He’s back, baby. Alexandre Burrows returned to the Vancouver lineup for Tuesday night’s narrow victory over the Edmonton Oilers and was reunited with last year’s linemates Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
That move was a no-brainer. Burrows logged 15:29 of ice time and recorded three shots on net, but was held off the score sheet as the Sedins worked together for a goal and an assist.
The Canucks are certainly better with Burrows in the lineup. He brings that sandpaper attitude to the top line to help distract from the real talent and is no slouch when it comes to point production, as his 67-point 2009-10 season proved.
The fact they picked him back up in the midst of a substantial winning streak is a boon and will work in their favour … provided they don’t run into Stephane Auger (I kid, I kid).
But expectations for Burrows have to be tempered for now. The spunky winger is coming off shoulder surgery and the subsequent recovery, so he missed pre-season — where players work out kinks and catch up to NHL speed once again. Not only that, but a shoulder injury can continue to affect a player like Burrows who is unafraid to go into the dirty areas and use his body to battle for puck possession. Not to mention how he’s already someone teams target because of his attitude and skill — now that they know he’s a little tender, they’ll exploit it every chance they get.
Burrows was already going to be hard-pressed to improve on his career-best season from last year, but now that he’s missed 10 games and gone pointless in one, he’d have to accumulate 35 goals and 67 points in 71 games to match the feat. Is it impossible? On a line with the Swedish twins, nothing is.
But while it’s perfectly reasonable to anticipate another big season from the Sedins’ beneficiary, it will take him some time to get back into the swing of things before you’ll start to recognize the Burrows of 2009-10.
