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Jannik Hansen out 4-6 weeks with knee injury

Josh Cooper
VANCOUVER, BC - DECEMBER 22: Jannik Hansen #36 of the Vancouver Canucks battles Jacob Trouba #8 of the Winnipeg Jets for the puck during their NHL game at Rogers Arena December 22, 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
Jannik Hansen of the Vancouver Canucks battles Jacob Trouba of the Winnipeg Jets for the puck during their NHL game at Rogers Arena December 22, 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Getty Images)

Vancouver Canucks forward Jannik Hansen will miss the next four-to-six weeks with a knee injury, coach Willie Desjardins said Tuesday.

Hansen was injured in the Canucks’ Dec. 22 game against the Winnipeg Jets when Mathieu Perreault slammed into Hansen in a knee-on-knee collision in the second period. Hansen played just 11 seconds on his next shift, but was done for the night. Perreault received a two-minute minor for kneeing on the play.

“I looked at him after he made the play,” Henrik Sedin said according to The Province on the hit that took out Hansen. “It took at least a couple of seconds before Perreault came. That’s a dirty hit, for sure.”

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According to The Province, Hansen won’t need surgery. He had already missed 16 games in 2016-17, from Nov. 7 through Dec. 10 with fractured ribs.

The 30-year-old Hansen had five goals and nine points in 18 games this season and was coming off the best season of his career where he scored 22 goals in 67 games played in 2015-16.

He had three goals in the two games before his injury and talked about how it felt to be returning to form after a two-goal game on Dec. 20 against the Jets.

“It takes a little bit (of time) to come back feeling good, getting the endurance back up. Being able to play, not just a period or two, but the whole game,” Hansen said according to NHL.com. It’s definitely a work in progress. … It’s never easy to be out and come back.”

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Said Daniel Sedin after the Dec. 20 game about how Hansen had played since his return, “Jannik brings a lot of speed to our line (and) gives us a lot more room to work down low and off the rush. He’s done a great job since he’s been back.”

Losing Hansen’s scoring punch again is more bad news for the Canucks – a team that has struggled since starting the year 4-0-0. The Canucks are currently 14-18-3 with 31 points – the third fewest in the NHL.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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