orts What do the Nucks have In Derek Roy? Vancouver hopes newly acquired centre will spark powerplay and help with third line consistency By RICHARD HODGES & NIALL SHANNON ith Derek Roy moving from the Vos Stars to the Vancouver Canucks, can he kickstart the Canucks offense and vault the team back into contention in the West? The 29-year-old Ottawa native stands just five foot nine and weighs only 188 pounds but the expectations on the for- mer Kitchener Ranger are huge. With Manny Malhotra on IR and Ryan Kesler out, the Canucks have been struggling to find someone who can centre a scoring line. “He’s a real savvy player with the puck and he makes some really smart passes out there,” said Chris Higgins of the centre who put up a career high 81 points back in 2007-08 with the Buffalo Sabres. He was traded to Dallas last year for Steve Ott and Adam Pardy. Cyrus Mazdine, a banker with Envi- sion Credit and a self-described die- hard Canucks fan, is excited about the trade but wonders if the Canucks can keep the unrestricted free agent before he walks in the summer. “We gave up [Kevin Connauton], a player that would never play on our team anyway and a second round draft pick,” said Mazdine. “But Roy will want six million, which the Canucks can’t af- ford.” Another concern is Roy’s health, as the player has been battling injuries over the past couple of years that ham- pered his production. In 2010, he tore his quad tendon, missing 55 games. The problem flared up again earlier this year when he sat out with a groin injury. All indications in Dallas just prior to the trade, however, are that his health problems are behind him and Roy has said he hasn’t felt this good in years. Roy skated on a line between Chris Higgins and Jannik Hansen in practice yesterday ahead of tonight’s game. against the Edmonton Oilers. VANCOUVER CANUCKS photo Derek Roy hits the ice yesterday for the first time with the Canucks. By KELCI NICODEMUS ne day before his birthday, Ro- berto Luongo didn’t receive the trade he was looking for. After year long talks he will remain with the Canucks for the rest of the season. The clock ran out at noon yesterday, ending speculation whether the Ca- nucks goaltender would be traded to another team. When asked at a press conference following practice yesterday morning why he thought he didn’t get traded, he laughed, smiled and said “because my contract sucks.” Students at Langara had mixed feel- ings about the decision. Josh Manuel, a math student, said he has been a fan of Luongo for ap- proximately four years and he’s glad he’s still with the Canucks. “He’s a really strong hold for the team,” he said. Manuel thinks that the reason Lu- ongo didn’t get traded is because he’s “stepped it up” and “fans are starting to like him again.” Even though Luongo hasn’t been traded this season, Manuel believes that he will be put on the trading block again because the Canucks salary cap doesn’t leave room for both Luongo and current starting goaltender Cory Schneider. “We can’t have both goalies for as long as we want,” he said. Jared Plowman, a science student, is also happy that Luongo wasn’t trad- ed, although he thinks the goaltender is having a rough year. VANCOUVER CANUCKS photo Roberto Luongo stops and signs some autographs for Canucks fans. After a long wait, he has learned he will remain with Vancouver. My contract sucks — Luongo Despite speculation he would be traded, veteran remains a Canuck “Before last year he’s always been a top ten goalie,” he added. Scott Bae, fellow Canucks fan, doesn’t agree that Luongo should stay with the team because he isn’t needed and his salary cap is too high. “Having two star goalies on one team is a waste,” Bae said. The only Canucks trade he was hop- ing for was the Luongo trade but he doesn’t care where the goaltender would have been traded. Sarah Lillemo, an arts student, isn’t a fan of Luongo, but she doesn’t care that he’s staying. Luongo sucks but he’s a good guy, so I’m OK that he’s still here,” Lillemo said. Lillemo said she doesn’t like Luongo as a player because “we love every time he’s in the net.” VONCO istory 1 New York Islanders 1999-2000 2 Florida Panthers 2000-2006 3 Vancouver Canucks 2007- Present Quaterfinal of Davis Cup returns to Vancouver Canadian star Milos Raonic and Team Canada will take on Italy this weekend at Doug Mitchell Thunder- bird Sports Centre. By JESSE ADAMSON ith the Davis Cup quarterfinals W: UBC this weekend and the emergence of Canadian star Milos Raonic, the popularity of tennis seems to be growing in Vancouver. Raonic, a 22 year-old from Thornhill, Ont., is currently ranked number 16 in the world ATP tour rankings and will join his fellow Canadians this weekend as they take on Italy in the Davis Cup, an international tennis competition. “To have a focal point, someone who’s in the top 20 in the world now, and hopefully moving into the top 10 soon, is a huge motivating factor for people in Canada,” said Ross Hartley the tennis director and head profes- sional at the Vancouver Lawn Tennis & Badminton Club. Hartley also acknowledged the game’s popularity is in part due to the fact that it’s the third time in the past year Vancouverites have seen the tour- CANADA SPORTS photo Milos Raonic celebrates after win- ning a big point at the Australian nament. “We've been really blessed here on the West Coast to be able to host the last three of them,” Hartley said. “It re- ally ignites tennis out here.” As a result, organizations like Ten- nis Canada and Tennis BC are working hard on building an even larger base. “They’re concentrating on bringing kids into the sport and keeping them... so they don’t get plucked by sports like soccer or hockey,” Hartley added. One way these organizations are try- ing to lure kids into tennis is by adopt- ing methods that have been successful for other countries and applying it to Canada’s own players. “Starting with smaller courts and slower balls, Canada has caught up with how the rest of the world teaches tennis,” said Lois Ker, director of events for Tennis BC. “The whole world is producing bet- ter players because of the improved techniques in introducing tennis to kids,” Ker added. There are now about 5.5 million peo- ple who claim to play tennis in Canada and a good chunk of them are from B.C., according to Ker.