Coincidentally, the Manitoba Moose hit its deadline for roster changes Friday, and is now limited to 20 skaters and 2 goalies. GM Craig Heisinger and his team are still in the hunt for a North Division title, and given the depth they feel they have on the Moose, there were some difficult cuts made to the team. The most notable omission from the roster being Tyler Bouck:

Heisinger concedes that all the decisions were tough, but leaving hard-working veteran Tyler Bouck off the list must have really stung. Bouck, who remains on the sidelines after fracturing his shoulder and battling through a staph infection, had been hoping to return to action before the playoffs.

He still could, if the Moose are in an emergency situation due to injuries or recall. Bouck essentially lost his clear-day roster spot when the parent Vancouver Canucks assigned centre Marc Chouinard to Manitoba earlier this week.

As for Chouinard, he now finds himself back in the same city in which he started his career in 1995, when he attended training camp for the Winnipeg Jets.

“I was here for about three weeks of camp that September,” said Chouinard, who was a second-round (32nd overall) pick of the Jets in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft and was involved in the memorable trade in February of 1996 that saw Teemu Selanne dealt to the Anaheim Ducks. “A lot of things have happened. In ‘96, I was a throw-in in that trade. I’m a little more mature and experienced but I’m the same guy I was back then. When I got to the airport (Thursday) I thought ‘12 years ago I was here.’ Time flies and it’s kind of ironic that I’ve come full circle.”

Chouinard appears optimistic about the opportunity to get some ice time, anyway.

Given how player movement in Manitoba is likely to affect the Canucks as well, here’s a quick run-down of how call-ups back to the Moose work:

Clubs can use any combination of defencemen and forwards they like, and injured players are actually more valuable to a club at this time of year. A combination of three injuries or call-ups on the clear day list puts the club in an emergency situation, which makes the entire hockey team available to a coach when he’s penciling his line-up that night.