VANCOUVER — The Canucks won Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday, but they may have suffered a significant loss in the process.
Vancouver defenseman Dan Hamhuis suffered an undisclosed injury early in the second period on a play in which he upended Bruins winger Milan Lucic with a hip check in front of the benches. Hamhuis did not return to the game.
The Canucks held an optional workout Thursday at the University of British Columbia. Only 10 skaters and two goalies participated, with just a handful of players who dressed in Game 1 taking the ice at Father Bauer Rink. Hamhuis was not among them, and his status for Game 2 on Saturday remains in question.
"[He's] day to day," Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said. "That's as specific as we get."
Losing a defenseman to injury is nothing new for the Canucks, who are better equipped than most teams to absorb the loss of even a stalwart defender like Hamhuis. They have nine NHL caliber blueliners on their roster, with Game 1 scratches Keith Ballard, Andrew Alberts and Christopher Tanev all capable of stepping into the lineup.
"We've used I think it's 13 or 14 defense[men] this year," Vigneault said. "Obviously you prefer not to have injuries, but we've had them during the regular season. We've just dealt with them. We've done the same thing in the playoffs. So nothing's going to change.
"I have a lot of confidence in all our players," Vigneault added. "Right now we have Keith, Andrew Alberts and Christopher that have played some minutes with us this year, have done a real good job. If we need somebody to play minutes, I'm confident they'll be able to step in and do a real good job for us."
Ballard would be the likely choice to replace Hamhuis if needed, but as of Thursday had no word if that would be the case for Saturday.
"I don't know yet," said Ballard, who did practice on Thursday. "I haven't heard one way or the other. It's two days, so we'll see how Dan's doing. But no, I haven't heard anything yet."
Ballard and Tanev each filled in for the final two games of the Western Conference Final against San Jose when Christian Ehrhoff and Aaron Rome were injured. They returned to the press box when Ehrhoff and Rome were cleared to play in Game 1 against Boston, but that experience against the Sharks has helped keep Ballard and Tanev sharp if they are needed in this series.
"Without those two games, it becomes quite a long time since [playing in] the beginning of the Nashville series," Ballard said. "But regardless of when the last time you played or how many days it's been, you have to be sharp. You have to find ways to be ready, whether it's mentally or physically or whatever."
Vigneault praised Ballard for the way he's handed being reduced to a limited role this year in Vancouver.
"He's handled it like a true team player, a real professional," Vigneault said. "Obviously, he'd probably like to play more, be a regular part of the team. But we feel that certain players have played a little bit better and they deserve to be in the lineup. For a player, obviously that's never easy. As a coach, coaching staff, management staff, you have to do what you feel is best for the team. You have to evaluate the players' performance, and that's what we do. We're confident if we need Keith down the road, he'll be ready and do a good job for us."
The rest of the defense is also confident they can carry on regardless of who fills in on the blue line.
"Yeah, well, it's obviously nothing new this year," Canucks veteran defenseman Sami Salo said. "I think we've gone through 14 defensemen. It obviously shows the depth of this team. Everybody's comfortable playing really with anybody. Dan is obviously a big part of this team, but other guys stepped in big-time [Wednesday] night."