Rick Rypien‘s “virus” update from The Vancouver Province:

The Vancouver Canucks announced Monday that Rick Rypien has a sports hernia injury and will require surgery. All this after the NHL club had said for days that the feisty winger had some sort of virus or viral infection.

“What happened was he came back and wasn’t feeling well, was tested and nothing came up,” coach Alain Vigneault said of Rypien leaving the team after an Oct. 17 game in Buffalo.

“He started to work out on his own and skate on his own and felt a little twinge in his abdomen and he went this morning to get evaluated by a specialist. They found a sports hernia tear on the left side, so he’s going to get operated on in the next couple of days and be out indefinitely.”

The article goes on to discuss Rypien’s history of injuries. It ain’t pretty.