It's March. There are 17 games and 36 days left in the Canucks' regular season.
Two of the Canucks' top rear guards, Alexander Edler and Kevin Bieksa, are out with long-term injuries.
Who would have guessed Keith Ballard would still be struggling to get minutes on this team?
Many had expected Ballard to continue to get increased responsibilities and more playing time as he continued to get his legs under him after offseason hip surgery.
The ice time never materialized and it would have been no shame to finish fifth in ice time all season behind Christian Ehrhoff, Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Bieksa and Alexander Edler.
But he's fifth to Aaron Rome right now, even with Edler and Bieksa out with injury.
On Thursday night against the Nashville Predators, Ballard logged 14:21 in even-strength ice time while Rome logged 16:49—over two extra minutes.
Ballard logged an additional two minutes on the penalty kill, bringing his total minutes to 16:21, while Rome logged an extra 48 seconds on the penalty kill for a total of 17:37.
On Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, similarly, Rome ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Kevin W
Vancouver Canucks: The Curious Case of Keith Ballard’s Ice Time
March 5th, 2011 by Kevin W Leave a reply »
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