You can guess where the Canucks’ Darcy Hordichuk falls out in that debate.

“You come to expect it when you play that role,” says the Canucks’ winger. “You know you’re going to get more than anyone else. It’s definitely unfair. You look at what (Calgary’s Mike) Cammalleri did (to Chicago’s Martin Havlat in the first round). Talk about a double standard. That’s a perfect example.”

Hordichuk, of course, was reacting to the controversy surrounding the six-game suspension handed out to Washington’s Donald Brashear for his head shot on the Rangers’ Blair Betts in the first round.

Cammalleri’s head shot to Havlat, meanwhile, went unpunished and the league is still deliberating over a similar incident involving Anaheim’s Corey Perry.

Brashear, like Hordichuk, is a tough guy. Cammalleri and Perry are frontlliners.

“I don’t want to accept it,” says Hordichuk. “But the reality is, every time someone like me steps on the ice, we really have to be careful. It’s so easy to say three years ago you did this or two years you did that.

“It’s just my opinion but I think a lot of guys around the league share that opinion.”

Hordichuk is on a tear — two goals and three points, and a plus-three to boot, over his past five games — three of them skating with a painful broken bone in his foot.

If it’s not quite a streak in the literal sense of the word — Hordichuk was kept off the scoresheet in two of the five games — it’s a streak of sorts for a guy whose goal total already this season matches his combined total for the past two seasons.

And really, his last game, at Nashville on Tuesday, shouldn’t even count since because of the way the penalties unfolded, he only got onto the ice for 3:09.

A mere four shifts, when he averages about 10 or so.

It’s a shame because he was really looking forward to showing his old employers they made a mistake by not re-signing him. (Plus it’s probably where he and his wife will retire to once hockey’s done, so much did they love his three seasons with the Predators.)

“It’s a long season,” Hordichuk said. “When we go back there in December [for a New Year's Day game] we’ll have our fun again and hopefully I can make an impact.”

Alain Vigneault takes a lot of heat over his trigger-happy penchant for shaking up lines.

The Sedins will likely retire without ever playing a season with a regular right winger again.

But Vigneault’s decision to throw Hordichuk, Jannik Hansen and Moose call-up Jason Jaffray together on the fourth line — to say nothing of putting Steve Bernier with Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler on the third line — has looked so far like a stroke of genius.

“I’m just feeling more confident and getting more comfortable,” said Hordichuk, who set up Jaffray’s first NHL goal of the season. “It’s fun.

“Getting a chance to play with Jaffs, he’s being playing real well, and Jannik, it’s just a different outlook on the fourth line.”

Hordichuk missed two games on the road trip — at Columbus and Detroit — after taking a shot to the laces.

The puck broke his second metatarsal, one of the five long bones in the forefoot which attach to the toes. He wears a protective shield over the front of his left skate and it’s actually less painful to skate than it is to walk (it’s the up-down lifting motion that hurts most).

Doctors have told him it’ll be sometime in mid-January before the bone is fully healed.

“When you’re skating you’re pushing off sideways,” he said, “except sometimes when you’re turning you can really feel it.

“But I’ve doubled my goals from last year already, so that’s not a bad thing. It’s funny that I’ve played some of my best hockey with a broken foot.”

He doesn’t think he has much of a choice, not after his teammate Ryan Johnson played for a month with a similar injury.

“What are you going to do? You suck it up, right,” Hordichuk said. “Everyone keeps saying how R.J. played through it.

“I still can’t walk without the boot. Guys are laughing at me, but I can’t put the pressure on it. The swelling has gone down, which is nice. But I think I’ll be in this boot for a while.”

Hordichuk missed a week before returning Friday with teammates calling him a “warrior.”

He had a good game against the Wild, skated hard and helped set up Jason Jaffray’s game-winning goal.

He said playing through the foot injury has been easier than when he was playing despite a banged up knee earlier in the season.

“When I was taping up my knee, I didn’t feel like I was playing my game,” Hordichuk said. “Now, it’s a foot. But it feels a lot better than the knee. I think I’m back on my game, running around and being physical.”

Hordichuk now has a goal and an assist on the season, both points came in his past three games.

“It’s not expected but I feel confident out there,” Hordichuk said. “I just have to be a little bit more patient with the puck. I think that’s what our line has been doing well.

“I do feel good but I don’t know how soon I’m going to be able to drop the gloves.”

Q. Early in September, our paper ran a sports front photo of you and your fluffy little Shih Tzu dogs Franklin and Chandler. As the new tough guy on the Canucks, did that draw some reaction?

A. The reaction was the boys were a little hard on me in the dressing room because they really didn’t know me yet. It was fun. You don’t get to be on the front page of the sports section in Tennessee too many times. In Nashville, it’s a little tougher to get recognized but here everybody knows the game and loves the game. I was happy to share the photo with my dogs.

Q. You have you own website, www.darcyhordichuk.com, which chronicles your exploits in hockey. How did it all come about?

A. It goes back to my Orlando Solar Bear days [2000-01] when the team folded. The lady who was in charge of the Solar Bears website had nothing to do so she got my domain name and ended up starting the website because people were always calling her to see how I was doing. It kind of snowballed from there.

Q. Are you still working with that lady and how much time do you spend on your website during the season?

A. No, I’m not with her anymore. Another company kind of ended up revamping it a little bit. Actually, it’s not a company but somebody who does athletes’ websites. I work on it when I have some down time — we do Q&As and we’ve got a blog going and some of my fights — but it’s been tough lately because I’m still trying to get my furniture to Vancouver.

Q. Your first NHL coach with the Atlanta Thrashers was Curt Fraser, who was originally a Canuck and also wore No. 24. Did Curt ever tell you how tough he was?

A. No, he never talked about himself too much but I heard stories. Everybody I talked to said he was a guy who could hurt you. It’s funny because my first couple of years with him in Atlanta, there wasn’t too much of a system for me. It was just kind of run around and kill guys and do whatever you want. I think that was kind of his style and he saw a little bit of himself in me. Curt’s a great person but I’ve lost touch with him now.

Q. You’re from a Ukrainian background and you love your perogies and cabbage rolls and borscht. Is your wife also of Ukrainian descent?

A. No, she’s got some Swedish in her and some Irish. She’s an American, from Fresno, California. I met her in Phoenix when I was playing for the Coyotes.

Q. Have you managed to convince her of the delights of Ukrainian food? Is she a fan?

A. Oh, yeah. That’s one of the things you have to do if you want to be a Hordichuk. You have to like my Baba’s cooking. [Baba is grandmother in Ukrainian.] It’s tough on my wife because I want her to make the perogies and borscht and she can’t do it quite like Baba. The standards are pretty high.

Source

Forward Rick Rypien (viral infection) was sick enough to be sent home before Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the Blackhawks for further examination.

Canuck coach Alain Vigneault said Darcy Hordichuk will be out 7-10 days with a sprained ACL after colliding with teammate Ryan Johnson, while Sami Salo (pulled groin) and Pavol Demitra (torso injury) will be reexamined today in Columbus, where Vancouver ends its road trip on Tuesday.

It seems unlikely, however, that any of the injured will be back by then.

Recently demoted Kyle Wellwood and Matt Pettinger are expected to be recalled from the Canucks farm team in Manitoba.

Source: Tony Gallagher, The Province

He did just that in Thursday night’s regular-season opener, but it’s not likely to happen again tonight when the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames meet for what figures to be a spirited rematch at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

Hordichuk skated away when Flames’ tough guy Andre Roy issued him a dance invitation during the second period of Thursday night’s 6-0 Vancouver win. The Canucks had a 3-0 lead at the time.

“If it was just up to me, I’d do it,” Hordichuk said Friday. “I can’t back down from a fight, but you have to listen to what the team wants and what the coaching staff wants. I kind of looked at the bench to see if they wanted me to go and if I get the nod, I’m going to do it. “But at that point it’s not about me, it’s about the team and not changing the momentum. . . It’s 3-0, there’s really no point.”

Tonight figures to be different. The Flames were sliced and diced by the local media after Thursday night’s lopsided loss and figure to try to run the Canucks right out of the Saddledome.

Hordichuk, who has been around the block a time or two as a NHL enforcer, knows he’s likely going to have to drop ‘em tonight.

“If it’s there, I’ll take it,” he said. “It’s different, it’s not 3-0 anymore. That’s my role and I think it’s going to be a fun game tomorrow.”

Full Story: Brad Ziemer, Vancouver Sun

“I’m just kind of feeling out the situation with the coaching staff and see what they want me to do in situations like that,” said Hordichuk, who played with Luongo in Florida.
“Maybe I run their goalie or whatever they want me to do. I’m looking forward to it and some do it [crease crash] more than others. Those are the guys you key in on as a target.”

Just like new Canucks centre Ryan Johnson, who also played with Luongo on the Panthers, Hordichuk knows the value of Luongo who often found himself in a Florida shooting gallery.

“The good thing about him was also bad,” recalled Hordichuk. “A lot of guys let up because they knew Roberto would be there for the big save and you kind of cheat in the offensive end. We’d get outshot 50-25 and win 2-1. It was pretty special to have a guy like that in net.”

Full Story: Former-now-new teammates have fond memories of Lu – [Canada.com]

The dogs...they protect the wife

His on-ice role calls for ferocity and size yet his pets are itty-bitty Shih Tzus named Chandler and Franklin.

Chandler and Franklin? What gives?

“They are to protect my wife,” Hordichuk winked. Wednesday after a skate at Burnaby 8-Rinks. “They’re two big killers. Twelve pounds each. We named Chandler when we lived in Chandler, Ariz., and Franklin when we lived in Franklin, Tenn. They’re loving it here in Vancouver, walking up and down the streets of Yaletown meeting all the other dogs.”

It’s apparent that Hordichuk, the pride of Kamsack, Sask., has retained his sense of humour despite his numerous hockey fights. He realized early on he didn’t have Gretzky-like moves so he embraced the enforcer’s role.

His parents, he admitted, were chagrined. His father is an X-ray technician and his mother a nurse. They weren’t terribly athletic and their other child was a girl, Darcy’s older sister. So this fighting stuff was new to them.

“My parents used to cover their eyes the first 60 fights I was in,” said Hordichuk, straight-faced. “I think they’re used to it now and they know I can hold my own.”

By his own account, Hordichuk was in 73 fights during his two seasons of major junior with the Saskatoon Blades.

In his first professional campaign with the Orlando Solar Bears of the defunct International League, he collected 369 penalty minutes to lead the league.

The Solar Bears won the IHL title so he must have been doing something right.

He understands there is a following for what he does and has his own web site, appropriately named darcyhordichuk.com.

“I knew my role early on in junior,” explained Hordichuk, 28, who signed with the Canucks for three years at $750,000 per season. “I knew if I wanted to make it to the next level I’d have to drop the mitts. I knew that you have to be good at what you do and you have to be willing.”

“I was more than willing.”

Hordichuk isn’t particularly large by enforcer standards. He is listed at 6-1 and weighs 218 pounds. But he has technique and has trained with the likes of mixed martial arts star Chuck Liddell.

“It doesn’t matter how big you are,” he noted. “I throw with both hands. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. The first time I got called up [by Atlanta], I fought Bob Probert twice. After that, it was if you could fight Probert, you could fight anybody.

“I think it’s a great role. I’m looking forward to it here in Vancouver. I’m looking forward to playing in Canada.”

Originally drafted by the Thrashers 180th overall in 2000, Hordichuk has also suited up for the Phoenix Coyotes, Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators. The Canucks are his first team in the north and his first team in Canada since junior.

He is pumped.

“I’ve been in the south for a while so playing in Canada is something I haven’t done yet and it’s going to be exciting,” he predicted. “I wanted to come to Vancouver. From what I hear, it’s one of the best places to play. Now I have to show what I can do.”

Hordichuk, by the way, is of Ukrainian heritage so perogies and borscht and “all that great stuff” were among his food staples growing up.

His grandma makes sure he has plenty to eat when he visits during the summer.

“My grandma cooks and I put on about 10 pounds,” he said, smiling. “Then I have to lose it.”

That’s the only kind of losing Hordichuk hopes for as a Canuck.

Source: Elliott Pap – Vancouver Sun