:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/27320125/184242784.0.jpg)
Tanguay will be back! TANGS!!
Alex Tanguay expects to be a bundle of nerves when he returns to the Colorado Avalanche lineup Friday as the team meets the Florida Panthers to open a three-game road trip.
The 34-year-old right wing has missed 36 games with knee and hip injuries he sustained in a Nov. 2 game against the Montreal Canadiens, and he wondered as recently as two weeks ago if he'd be able to play again this season.
"It's such a roller coaster when you're hurt," Tanguay said Wednesday after passing a grueling skating test at the Avalanche's practice facility. "One day you feel good and you think you're going to be back soon, and a couple days later you feel like you're never going to get back. Not as long as two weeks ago I probably would have said the chances (weren't good).
"I'm nervous to see how everything's going to feel out there. As much as you do in practice, you don't get the same checking and intensity as you do in a game. But I'm excited to get back. This team has been doing outstanding. It's quite the turnaround from where it was a year ago and I'm excited to get back and hopefully do my part and help these guys out."
Some hockey players will not be bringing their family to Russia to see them play in the Olympics.
Roberto Luongo won't have any family joining him next month when he suits up for Canada at the Winter Olympics.
The same goes for Sweden's Daniel Sedin.
The Vancouver Canucks teammates are both concerned over security at the Games in Sochi, Russia, after a series of threats and terrorist attacks in the region.
Two suicide bombers killed 34 people in the southern Russian city of Volgograd in December, and officials say they are hunting three more potential attackers — including one believed to be in Sochi.
"It's definitely on my mind, I'm not going to lie," Luongo said after practice on Wednesday. "I think we're all a little bit concerned. We're definitely going to keep an eye on it over the next few weeks."
There's been some clarification on Tortorella's "no contact" suspension.
On Tuesday night Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said some contact is allowed. On Wednesday morning, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly added clarification by e-mail.
“General theme is no contact at all with the players during the 15 days, and no contact with club personnel in and around actual games,” wrote Daly.
Tortorella can speak with Gillis and others outside the bounds of before/during/after games.
Contact with assistant coaches Mike Sullivan (now acting head coach) and Glen Gulutzan and other coaches is “subject to certain conditions and restrictions,” said Daly.