from Ian MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

Due to the 15-hour time difference between Beijing and Vancouver, the Canucks arrive home on Saturday.

Everyone will have a day off to sleep — or not — before general manager Jim Benning and head coach Travis Green blend their China roster and the Canucks’ North American roster of mostly younger players into a single group and start practising for final pre-season games next Thursday and Saturday.

But given the ongoing overhaul of the Canuck roster, and the need to refine systems and integrate prospects and six free-agent signings, two games is not a lot of time to get ready. Especially when, as Swedes Hank and Daniel Sedin acknowledge, it takes about seven days to get over trans-ocean jet lag.

“And by the time your body feels good again, it’s probably another three or four,” Daniel said. “Ten days all together.”

“It’s never ideal,” Henrik said. “It’s never ideal to travel in the pre-season. But it’s still early. It would have been worse if we left a week later and got back home only a week before the season starts. You have to look at it this as a positive.”

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