from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

The question surrounding the Vancouver Canucks has for some months been, is the window closing on this group's Stanley Cup aspirations?

Any more injuries and the queries will shift to, should the Canucks even be in the Stanley Cup conversation anymore?

Ryan Kesler -- gone for better than a month, after his third surgery in two years.

David Booth -- spent the lockout hunting bears instead of readying himself to track down the Bruins, then couldn't even make it through the first workout. His groin is shot -- his credibility remains on I.R. as well -- and he's out a month-and-a-half.

That means no second line to start the short, 48-game season in Vancouver, when it was depth and high-end skill that took the Canucks to the Cup in '11.

continued