VANCOUVER — Kevin Bieksa was holding court in the Vancouver Canucks' dressing room Tuesday and giving the media nothing.
His
maintenance day has turned into a maintenance week, so reporters
brilliantly deduced the veteran Canucks defenceman had an injury of some
sort. He was asked what the problem was after participating in
Tuesday's morning skate.
“What was the problem? There is no
problem,” he said, trying to keep his face straight. “I'm continuing to
maintain. It's just maintenance. I am just maintaining my status and my
body. You guys know what maintenance days are. It's a long season and
we're heading into playoffs and these are maintenance days.
“Today is obviously a maintenance day. I'm going to take it one maintenance day at a time.”
One maintenance day at a time. A new cliche coined. Good on you, Mr. Maintenance Man.
Bieksa
also noted that since he has been taking these maintenance days — he is
to miss his fourth straight game Tuesday when the Canucks meet the
Anaheim Ducks — he hasn't had to fulfill any media obligations. So he
announced that his wit was game ready, even if his body was not.
“I feel refreshed,” he continued. “I've had five or six days off from talking to you guys so mentally I'm sharp again.”
He
hopes to be physically sharp when he returns to the lineup. Since only
two games remain in the regular season, Thursday in Calgary and Saturday
back home vs. Edmonton, there isn't much opportunity left.
“This
is the fourth game I'm missing,” Bieksa said. “It's not a lot, but it
seems like a month. Getting out there Monday after not skating for four,
five, six days, it seems like I was starting over again.”
Although
there is some belief Bieksa's problem is in the lower part of his body,
perhaps even below his shin, the team was not letting any nuggets out
of the bag.
“Team secret,” said associate coach Rick
Bowness. “It's nothing more than a maintenance day. We'll see how Kevin
feels tomorrow after another maintenance day. We'd like to get him back
in the lineup before the end of the season and that will depend on how
he's feeling.”
Bieksa, 30, did concede that if this were playoffs, he would be in the lineup.
Asked
if he felt at all “guilty” taking these maintenance days when
37-year-old Sami Salo was playing every night, he replied: “Sami got a
couple of days off, too. I don't feel guilty. We're both in our 30s.
We're both getting up there.”
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