Star of the Week jinx? Samuelsson out 2-3 weeks

Vancouver Canucks’ Mikael Samuelsson, of Sweden, celebrates after scoring against the Ottawa Senators during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Saturday, March 13, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)

AP

As far as I know, there’s no concrete award for being named the NHL’s player of the week, but surely Mikael Samuelsson could think of a better way to celebrate than to be injured for 2-3 weeks. Right? All kidding aside, it’s been an up and down season for the Swedish winger. The Vancouver Sun reports that he’ll miss up to three weeks with the always nebulous “upper body injury.”

That injury, thought to be shoulder-related, was suffered late in Tuesday night’s 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders.

Canuck coach Alain Vigneault acknowledged the loss of Samuelsson is a significant blow to his team.

“He had been playing real well,” Vigneault said after his team’s practice today at General Motors Place. “He just got named first star in the NHL last week so obviously he was contributing to our success and it’s something we are going to have to deal with.”

Samuelsson had been one of the Canucks’ hottest offensive players of late. He has recorded 30 goals and 53 points this season. Both are career highs.

Along with posting career highs in points, Samuelsson also made waves when he shared some profanity-laced responses upon hearing news of being left off the Swedish Olympic team. Considering his solid chemistry with the Sedin twins, one cannot help but wonder if his right-handed shot could have come in handy for what turned out to be an underwhelming Swedish team.

Michael Grabner has been called up to replace him.