The Canadiens were supposed to be a breakout team this season. But, like the Blues, they keep taking injury hits.

Consider some of the damage:

• First-line center Saku Koivu will miss at least a couple of weeks with an undisclosed lower-body injury. Koivu will be reevaluated in two weeks, leaving reporters to guess about the severity of this injury.
• Forward Christopher Higgins will miss at least five more weeks with an “upper body” injury of some description. This is a big hit, since Higgins scored 27 and 22 goals the previous two seasons.
• Defenseman Mike Komisarek is still on the mend from a similar shoulder injury.
• Goaltender Carey Price could miss a week with a lower-body injury. He has also been dogged by illnesses this season. Jaroslav Halak continues on in the No. 1 role with Marc Denis up from the AHL as his back-up.
• Forward/defenseman Mathieu Dandenault could miss a big chunk of the remaining season after suffering a broken arm.

These injuries are significant, since they could impact potential deals Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey was exploring — like one to clear space for Mats Sundin.

Flames coach Mike Keenan told the Toronto Globe and Mail that NHL teams are more vulnerable to injuries than ever before. Why? The salary cap makes it difficult to replace wounded warriors.

“People are all over Dallas,” Keenan said. “They’ve got four legitimate strong very important players out of the lineup – Brenden Morrow, Sergei Zubov, Jere Lehtinen and Steve Ott. You can’t replace that in today’s game.

“People say to me, ‘what’s the difference between today’s game and 10 years ago?’ The major difference is you can’t make trades. You can’t go get your help when you need it because you’re boxed in with the salary cap. They (the Stars) would desperately love to pick up a couple of players for stop-gap measures. In the old days, you’d do that and then when you got your injured players back, you’d move a couple of guys out.”

PLUS-MINUS MISERY

Brad Boyes isn’t the only significant NHL player on the wrong side of the rankings this season. Here is a quick look at other players bleeding at even strength this season.

SPEAKING OF BAD PLUS-MINUS RATINGS

On another topic, Iron Mike fervently defended Todd Bertuzzi’s play (20 points, minus-15 in 30 games) this season.

“He’s a preoccupation for both defenseman,” Keenan told the Calgary Herald. “They can’t stop him. I watched (the TV feed) again this morning and the commentator said exactly that. When he comes out of the corner with that force, that drive . . . When you’re as big as Todd is, can skate like he can, accelerate like he can, with those soft hands, and shoot the way he can, like I said he’s a preoccupation. Nobody writes about that.”

Then came an unfortunate comparison, the sort we heard a lot when Iron Mike was here.

“(Mark) Messier went 22 games without scoring a goal the year we won the Stanley Cup and nobody talked about it; nobody cared,” Keenan said. “But when we needed three goals in a special game, he scored them.

“You talk about (Bertuzzi’s) plus-minus and the fact that he hadn’t scored in this-many games. Doesn’t matter to me.”

AROUND THE RINKS: Sundin has been skeptical about signing with a West Coast team, but Canucks left a $10 million salary slot available for him. To play anywhere else, he would likely have to sign for less . . . Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock continues to ride hot rookie goaltender Steven Mason. Will that team be able to salvage Pascal Leclaire this season? Stay tuned . . . There will be lots of focus on John Tavares at the World Junior Championships . . . Welcome back 900-year-old Chris Chelios, who is finally healthy and back to game speed for the Red Wings . . . The Capitals were thrilled to regain Alexander Semin, who scored 28 points in 17 games before suffering a back injury . . . Down on the farm, Jonas Junland continues to excel for the Rivermen. Also, Chris Holt earned his first AHL shutout while filling in for Ben Bishop .  .  . Bruins center David Krejci scored 15 points during a nine-game span . . . Paul Maurice is trying to reorganize the Hurricanes, but that is a tough job with defensemen Dennis Seidenberg, Niclas Wallin, Tim Gleason, Frantisek Kaberle and Anton Babchuk simultaneously shelved by injuries. Veterans Joni Pitkanen and Joe Corvo were surrounded by kids and journeymen . . . the injury-riddled Avalanche are happy to have defenseman Adam Foote back . . . Speaking of journeymen, goaltender Scott Clemmenson has bailed out the Devils with surprisingly steady play. That has eased New Jersey’s urgency to deal for veteran help . . . The Thrashers, for some reason, refuse to hold a yard sale and start over . . . B.J. Crombeen played his way from the East Coast Hockey League to the NHL. Could Josh Soares do the same? He has given the Rivermen a huge lift. . . . If you need your daily hockey fix, make this mainstream media blogs one of your regular stops. Stu Hackel was a grad student back when Hockey Guy was at Mizzou. As for Stu’s passion for music, Hockey Guy sat in with him when he spun disks at a Columbia community radio station.  It’s good to see he still has that passion.