Ron Chenoy – USA TODAY Sports
The Vancouver Canucks will be without starting goaltender Cory Schneider when they play their final home game on Thursday night. Schneider is out with an “unspecified injury” and is listed as day-to-day, which means Roberto Luongo could make one more home start for the Canucks. The team also recalled Joe Cannata from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. With a playoff berth already clinched this isn’t end of the world news for the Canucks, especially if Schneider is able to return in time for the postseason.
Things could also be worse for the Canucks if they didn’t have a goaltender of Luongo’s caliber ready to step in. It does make for an interesting situation, as Luongo may now get one last home start for the team before being bought out or traded in the offseason. It was expected he would be long gone before the season started, but having him around has actually helped the Canucks this season. There is a chance that the Canucks might let Cannata see some action, which would be his first taste of the NHL. Schneider is 17-9-4 with five shutouts this season, while Luongo has won nine games and has two shutouts.
Cannata was a sixth round pick in the 2009 draft and has played sparingly in the ECHL and AHL this season. He was 3-4-0 with a 3.29 goals-against average for the Kalamazoo Wings, and 6-6-0 with a 2.65 goals-against average for the Wolves. The Canucks take on the Anaheim Ducks before finishing the regular season by visiting the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
Jonathan Katje is an NHL senior writer for Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter or add him to your circles on Google Plus.
