Daniel Sedin Injury: Canucks Star Joins Team After Being Cleared To Practice

The Canucks need all the help they can get, in the face of a potential first-round elimination from the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs down 3-0 in the best-of-seven series. Sedin should provide an offensive spark to a team that has scored just four total goals over its last three games.

Sedin missed the last nine games of the regular season in addition to the Kings’ first three playoff games. He has 30 goals and 37 assists in 72 games played this season.

“Daniel has been following the protocol and he’s been cleared to practice with the team so he’s flying in later this afternoon,” head coach Alain Vigneault told reporters in California on Monday. “[His return to the lineup] won’t be my decision. It’s a medical decision and he’s been skating now for quite a few days. They feel that he’s progressed real well and he’s cleared to practice with the team.”

Sedin’s absence from the lineup has had a trickle-down effect on the roster, and while the Canucks face the daunting task of winning four straight playoff games with or without Sedin in the lineup, there’s no doubt their chances are better with their leading scorer on the ice. Game 4 is set for Wednesday evening at the Staples Center.

Sedin not traveling with the team essentially rules him out for games three and four of the series. It is possible Sedin may have to watch his team get eliminated not even from the sidelines, but from home.

For all news and information regarding the series between the Kings and the Canucks, keep checking this StoryStream. For more on the Canucks, visit Nucks Misconduct. For updates on the Kings, check out Jewels From the Crown and SB Nation Los Angeles.

Stick with SBNation.com for full series coverage of Kings vs. Canucks. For more on Sedin’s injury and the playoff run from the Vancouver perspective, check in with Nucks Misconduct.

“As everyone knows, he has a concussion and we’re following the protocol,” Vigneault said. “I’m not going to address this every day. He’s got a concussion and when we have something more to say we’ll say it, but we’re going to follow the protocol and when we have more we’ll share it with you.”

Keith, meanwhile, was suspended five games by the NHL for the hit that sidelined Sedin.

As is the case with most concussions, Sedin is currently out indefinitely and there’s no way to tell when he’s going to return to the ice. Keith should probably feel lucky that he’s going to return to the ice before the regular season ends, though the suspension is going to cost him nearly $150,000.

For more on the two teams, head over to Chicago Blackhawks blog Second City Hockey and Vancouver Canucks blog Nucks Misconduct.

Hockey reporter Renaud P. Lavoie tweeted on Thursday that Sedin has a concussion. The concussion is expected to keep the winger out of action for at least two weeks.

Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy takes an in-depth look at the hit on Sedin and breaks down whether the elbow was premeditated or out of line. Regardless, it was an ugly hit that did serious damage. Here is a video of the play in question: