Guess Whose Back!?

On the day when Ossi Vaananen made his debut in Canucks practice, Rick Rypien made his return. He has been cleared to skate. He made his first appearance since a sports hernia injury sidelined him back in late October forcing him to miss 53 straight games. The scrappy forward skated with assistant coach Darryl Williams prior to practice and issued the following statement to the media:

"I would like to thank the Canucks organization and my teammates for their tremendous support during this challenging time. Everyone has been so supportive and I can't thank them enough for everything. I would also like to thank the media and the Canucks fans for their respect they have shown me during my time away. I am happy to be back practicing with my teammates and would ask that thus matter remain private at this time. I will speak to the media at an appropriate time in the future. Thank you."

AV says that Rypien will skate by himself for 4 or 5 days and then return to playing with the players. There is no time line for his return, they will take it one day at a time and he will play when he is ready.