VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Canucks hit the road for crucial back-to-back games this week knowing full well that their season likely hangs in the balance. [url=http://www.authenticvikingspro.com/Irv-smith-jr-vikings-jersey/]Irv Smith Jr. Vikings Jersey[/url] . With just nine contests left on the schedu

VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Canucks hit the road for crucial back-to-back games this week knowing full well that their season likely hangs in the balance. Irv Smith Jr. Vikings Jersey . With just nine contests left on the schedule and the club sitting four points adrift in the Western Conference playoff race, the Canucks have no margin for error. "Everybodys looking at the standings. We are too," head coach John Tortorella said after Tuesdays practice at Rogers Arena. "All we can do is control what we have. "Were going to keep on trying to battle away here and find points." That begins Wednesday in Minnesota against the Wild before another tough test the following night against the Colorado Avalanche. Both teams are all but locked into playoff positions, something the Canucks can only dream of at this point. While the standings dont look all that daunting at first glance — the eighth-place Phoenix Coyotes were four points up with a game in hand on Vancouver heading into Tuesday — the math tells a different story. The website www.sportsclubstats.com, which calculates teams playoff chances, currently gives the Canucks just a 2.3 per cent shot at making this years post-season. Its a stunning slide for a club that has become accustomed to battling for division titles in recent years, not its playoff life. Vancouver has won its last two games over the punchless Nashville Predators and the Buffalo Sabres to stay above water, but the Wild and Avalanche should pose a much tougher test in what could be two season-defining contests. "Weve been a very resilient group. Weve been on the outside looking in for a while now and weve climbed right back up there," said Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa. "Weve had some tough losses for sure. Theres no hiding that, but we keeping fighting. "Were still here. Were still standing." They might not be after this week. Apart from the Coyotes, the Dallas Stars also stand in the way of the Canucks playoff hopes. Dallas was three points up on Vancouver with two games in hand heading into Tuesday. But if Vancouver can survive the trip to Minnesota and Colorado, the club could have some life with six of its final seven games coming at home. "Im just trying to take it day by day here," said goaltender Eddie Lack, who is expected to make his 14th straight start Wednesday. "I know (Phoenix and Dallas) have a really tough schedule left. We have a lot of home games too so hopefully we can take advantage of that and just do our part here and well see if its enough or not." Canucks forward Zack Kassian said the players are aware of the out-of-town scoreboard each night, but added that the daunting task makes his preparation easier. "We know theres only nine and we know that every one of those games is going to be very important for our hockey team," he said. "You definitely look (at the scores) as a team when youre not playing and youre seeing how other teams are doing that youre trying to chase. "At the end of the day if we dont take care of our business and win hockey games it has no effect on us." Canucks forward Daniel Sedin said he cant help but pay attention to other teams results when every point is so critical. "I think you have to right now. We need those two teams to lose a few games," he said. "I think you keep an eye on that, but on game day youre so focused on your own games you dont really worry too much about the other scores." Tortorella and his players both refuse to use injuries as an excuse, but the Canucks have rarely had a chance to ice their full lineup since the end of December. Daniel Sedin returned on Sunday against Buffalo, but the club lost Henrik Sedin the same night, while fellow forward Alexandre Burrows was hurt against Nashville. Neither will make the two-game road trip. "It cant be deflating. Weve been going through this all year long. You get a couple back, another one goes out," said Tortorella. "Its been most of our top guys ... but it cant be deflating at this time of year. We just need to stay upbeat." While refusing to use injuries as a crutch to explain his teams predicament, the fiery coach who preaches pressure in all three zones added that the crowded sick bay has left him hamstrung at times. "The lineup when we were healthy, I think we were a different team. I think it allowed us to play a little bit differently, too," said Tortorella. "When we started getting banged up there ... we had to make some adjustments within our play and it changes things." Bieksa said that despite the injuries and long odds, a belief remains in the Canucks locker-room that the playoffs are still attainable. "Weve set ourselves up to make a push at least," he said. "Were fighting to the end. Were not going to give up." Follow @JClipperton_CP on Twitter Adrian Peterson Jersey . -- Byron Scott is taking over the Los Angeles Lakers with the vocal support of his fellow Showtime greats. Kirk Cousins Youth Jersey . The team said they will announce a corresponding roster move prior to their series opener on Tuesday night in Kansas City. http://www.authenticvikingspro.com/Fran-tarkenton-vikings-jersey/ .Y. -- It was as if Matt Moulson never left the New York Islanders.PARIS - Michael Schumacher is showing "small, encouraging signs" that he may awake from his coma, his agent said Wednesday, more than two months after a ski crash left the Formula One champion with severe head injuries. Updates since Schumachers accident have offered few details and limited optimism for the man who once drove the worlds fastest cars and motorcycles but was critically injured on a familiar ski slope during a family outing. Wednesdays statement was little different, describing "an extremely intimate and fragile situation" for his family. "It is very hard to comprehend for all of us that Michael, who had overcome a lot of precarious situations in the past, has been hurt so terribly in such a banal situation," Sabine Kehm, a family representative, wrote in a statement. "We are and remain confident that Michael will pull through and will wake up. There sometimes are small, encouraging signs, but we also know that this is the time to be very patient." Small signs that physicians are watching for could include fluttering eyelids, or efforts to breathe without a ventilator. "This doesnt change ones opinion of Schumachers situation in general. Its still very difficult to predict wwhat his long-term recovery will be like and if he does wake up and comes off the ventilator," said Dr. Brian ONeill Vikings Jersey. Tipu Aziz, professor of neurosurgery at Oxford University. "In all likelihood he will be severely disabled," said Aziz, who has not been involved in treating Schumacher. Schumacher, known affectionately as Schumi, was hospitalized with severe head injuries after the Dec. 29 ski accident, which split his helmet as he crashed into rocks on the slope at the Meribel ski station in the French Alps. Doctors put him into a coma to rest his brain and decrease swelling, and they operated to remove blood clots, but some were too deeply embedded. Neurologists not involved in his treatment say full recovery appears increasingly unlikely, given the comas duration and the extent of his injuries. "Every brain injury is different and no two routes to recovery will be the same," said Luke Griggs, a spokesman for Headway, a British brain injury charity. "It is fair to suggest that any patient waking from a three month-long coma will face the prospect of a long and challenging road to recovery, with the eventual outcome uncertain." AP medical writer Maria Cheng contributed from London. ' ' '