When you're mired in a season-long five-game losing streak, good news is always welcome.
There's no question the Manitoba Moose were smiling when they learned yesterday that right-winger Jannik Hansen had been assigned to them by the Vancouver Canucks for a conditioning stint that could last up to two weeks.
"We certainly can use the skill, anytime you can get a player of that quality at this time of the year, we're looking for him to be a little boost for us," said Moose head coach Scott Arniel. "(Hansen) hasn't played a lot of games recently and he wants to be sharp and get his game up to where it needs to be. For us, it's a bonus because we know him. It'll be an easy adjustment."
Hansen, 23, should be in uniform tonight when the Moose face the Worcester Sharks in the fourth game of a six-game eastern swing.
"We'll throw him right in there," said Arniel, whose club has scored only 11 goals and given up 32 during the past five games. "He's such a good skater and if he has the puck, he'll push the defence back. He's shifty and he's a real good penalty killer. You can use him in a large role and we're going to try to take advantage of that."
Hansen, who was chosen 287th overall by the Canucks in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, has 34 goals and 78 points in 124 games with the Moose.
The speedster from Denmark has five goals and nine points in 24 games with the Canucks this season.
"He's a fast guy out there and last year when he came down for those two games (on a conditioning stint), he was a difference-maker," said Moose forward Guillaume Desbiens. "He's going to get a lot of ice time here and I'm sure he'll be excited about that. We're more than happy to get him down here."
The Moose played much better in Wednesday's 3-1 loss and are hoping to build on the effort going into the rematch with the Sharks tonight.
"We played hard and did a lot of good things. In saying that, you don't want to lose hockey games," said Arniel. "We had every opportunity to win (Wednesday). We had five breakaways in the game, outchanced the opposition, didn't give up a lot against. We made two mistakes and they ended up in our net.
"When things are going good for you as a group, you get bounces and pucks are going in when they shouldn't and when times are tough, it's vice-versa. We're giving up untimely goals and missing open-net chances. It's something we've got to work ourselves through."
With three games left on the road trip, the Moose hope to salvage some valuable points.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to get our confidence level back to where it was before the losing skid," said Desbiens. "Obviously (Wednesday) was a better game, but it's not going to get us in the playoffs or to the top of our division. We took a big step, but we have to take it up a couple more notches to get those points."
To help make room for Hansen, the Moose assigned rookie right-winger Eric Walsky to the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL.
Walsky has two goals and 11 points in 37 AHL games this season and should benefit from the additional ice time at the ECHL level.
Defenceman Mathieu Schneider flew to Vancouver yesterday to get a second opinion on the knee injury he sustained Monday and it's possible he might need surgery to repair meniscus damage.
If surgery is required, Schneider could be on the shelf for 4-to-6 weeks, rather than the 7-to-14 days which was the original diagnosis.
ken.wiebe@sunmedia.ca
