[SumAznGuy]

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Or...850/story.html

Cody Hodgson has been told to stay off skates to rest his troublesome back and Sergei Shirokov has been told to skate harder with the Manitoba Moose.

The Vancouver Canucks didn't practice Thursday, so putting the plight of two promising prospects into proper perspective fell on the shoulders of general manager Mike Gillis. Hodgson is still hobbled and the struggling Shirokov has been sent to the minors for more seasoning.

First, Hodgson.

Following a third medical opinion on Monday at the Cleveland Clinic in Toronto, the 19-year-old Hodgson was told to stay off skates for three weeks before playing for the Brampton Battalion. The centre was assigned to the OHL club on Sept. 29 after managing just two assists in six NHL preseason games. Hodgson suffered a bulging disc in his lower back from July training and clearly struggled with a laboured stride and was never up to speed last month.

"I was under the impression that he would be evaluated in two weeks and they would see where he's at," Gillis said Thursday. "He does have a little bit of inflammation and a little bit of a symptom that may have come out of the fact he played a lot of games in a short period of time at the end of camp. We're not sure.

"But he's going to be 100 per cent in two or three weeks from our understanding."

During the preseason, the Canucks said the 10th overall pick in the 2008 entry draft was fit to play, but just needed better conditioning. However, when Hodgson was cleared to play Sept. 11, it didn't take long to get a clear picture that something was wrong. He lacked explosiveness and strength and was often overmatched in one-on-one battles.

"He indicated he was ready to play and our medical staff put him through a series of tests every day and there was progress every day," added Gillis. "There may have been a slight move sideways because he played so many games in a short period of time. But he wanted to play them and we wanted him to play and he was cleared. I don't know what else to say

"I have no issues with anybody getting another opinion with a back — especially a young player."

Next, Shirokov.

After a preseason in which the 23-year-old Kontinental Hockey League led the Canucks with seven points in five games, the 163rd selection in the 2006 entry draft looked overwhelmed by the pace of regular-season play. On a line with Ryan Kesler and Mikael Samuelsson, all Shirokov could manage in three games was three shots and a minus-4 rating.

In the second period of Monday's 5-3 loss to Columbus, Shirokov was taken off the second line and dropped to the fourth and logged just 10:21. He was replaced by Tanner Glass on Wednesday in a 7-1 romp of the Montreal Canadiens.

"He had really strong training camp, but it looked like the pace kind of overwhelmed him a little bit in the first three games," admitted Gillis. "We wanted to get him back playing with the puck and have it slow down a little bit for him. He'll get out there on the power play and get lots of ice time in Manitoba. He can get back to playing the way he did in the preseason."

With the Canucks playing just once in the next eight days — and the Moose having four games in the next six days — management is hoping that Shirokov will get over the shock of his demotion and not have it mentally weigh him down. Russian scout Sergei Chibisov spoke to Shirokov on Thursday and the Moose have a Russian interpreter to help the winger adjust to Winnipeg. He was expected to practice with the Moose on Friday.

"He's not being shipped out on his own," added Gillis. "We're aware and want him to understand that this is part of a process and he's in it and we're very confident about him. And I think he knows that, based on our conversations."

Still, the drop off of Shirokov's play from preseason to the regular season was startling. When time and space were taken away, the winger struggled to keep up and make plays and find the net. Even worse, his backchecking was poor.

"We were surprised, but not surprised," stressed Gillis. "It happens all the time. We were really pleased with him and his training camp and we think we have a really good player here. Rather than have him lose confidence and feel like he's incapable of playing, we want to keep him playing and playing at a high level.

"We don't want to see him sitting here for two weeks and not participating in games."