Friday December 7 2007

Rypien unsafe at any speed
Pro career has consisted of endless series of major wrecks

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Rick Rypien has been very unlucky in the injury department. The Moose hope things will turn around for him.

IF he were a car, no insurance company would go near him. But when he's not in a body shop, Manitoba Moose forward Rick Rypien is the roadster everybody wants.

His game has torque, he can do the heavy pulling and when it comes to collisions, he almost always comes out in better shape than the other guy.

Tonight may mark another important fork in the road for the 23-year-old from Coleman, Alta., who could get into the Moose lineup against the Houston Aeros at MTS Centre (7:30 p.m., CJOB). He's been out since early in the year because of a broken finger, just another in a series of major wrecks since his pro career began with the Moose late in the 2004-05 campaign.

"I'm sick of sitting around and being injured," Rypien said Thursday, having been assigned by the NHL's Vancouver Canucks earlier this week. "I want to play, and stay playing."

Rypien began the season with the Moose and was called up after just one game. In his seventh with the Canucks, his finger got in the way of a shot and it's cost him nearly two months.

Last season, he was limited to just 14 games with the Moose and two with Vancouver, and nothing in the second half after he ripped up his groin muscle just after a recall. Before that, his playing time took a hit because of a broken ankle.

"It's getting old for me," Rypien said about knowing how to come back from serious injuries. "It's not fun. I don't want to do it anymore.

"I've had enough injuries to last a career. Hopefully it's out of the way."

His breakneck, fearless style has been a double-edged sword for the Canucks and Moose. He is a teammate to love because of those characteristics -- certainly, former Moose and present Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault has fallen in love with him -- but many feel that hell-bent, top-gear-only mode has made Rypien prone to injury.

Rypien disagrees.

"No, not at all," he said. "I think the injuries I've had are no reflection on the way I play. I'm just going to play my game."

Arniel, however, wonders if there isn't something to the theory.

"I think it has a lot to do with how he plays," Arniel said.

"He's had injuries with his hands from fights, the groin you can't do much about, but blocking a shot on this one and breaking a finger, well, he's a hard-nosed kid and he goes 100 per cent all the time. There is no off-button for him. Things happen."

Arniel said he was planning a chat with Rypien later Thursday, if only to encourage him to shut out any worries about his style, focus on the job and get playing some hockey, because he hasn't played a whole lot in two years.

"I don't know where it comes from, bad karma?" Arniel said. "I don't even know when it comes to saying a lot to him. I just want him to focus on every day, getting better."

Rypien without edge probably isn't any good to anybody, so there's likely no worries of things changing that drastically.

"Ryp always has jump," Arniel said after Thursday's practice, Rypien's second this week.

"He seems to come off some of these injuries, so many of them over the last three years that he's got to be frustrated, but you know, we don't even talk about them.

"He's an energy guy. It's the way he plays, the way he works in practices. For him to be out of shape compared to other guys, it'll probably still be a good pace. He's one guy that never really lets down."

Rypien, for his part, said he's received some wise counsel in recent times, hinting there may be a way to be smarter but not change his style.

"I've talked to a few guys, about being out there at certain times and don't go full throttle if there's no need to," he said. "But they all know I'm going to play the same way. That's just what I do."

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca

Back in action at last

Rick Rypien, who has played just 24 regular-season NHL and AHL games in the last two seasons, is a good bet to return to action -- again -- tonight at MTS Centre.

The injury-prone 23-year-old forward has many supporters here, however, and will find plenty of encouragement as he tries to come back from yet another serious injury, this time a broken finger.

From teammate and Moose captain Mike Keane:

"There are guys who will block 15 or 20 shots and not get a bruise. He blocks one and it breaks his finger. It just happens. If (all this) has to happen to a kid, it's good that it does happen to Ryp. He's pretty strong-minded, pretty stubborn. He knows what it takes to get back. Some guys might not have the right mindset, might just (give up) and might not train as much but Ryp has his own ways of doing things, he's stubborn and that's what's going to get him back playing again."

-- Campbell