CALGARY — Willie Desjardins made opening night and Jacob Markstrom didn't.
For the Vancouver Canucks, there's always something.
Four weeks after undergoing an emergency hip replacement, Desjardins will be coaching behind the bench when the Canucks opens their National Hockey League season tonight against the Calgary Flames (7 p.m., Pacific, on Sportsnet, TSN 1040), the fierce Pacific Division rivals who ended Vancouver's season in the playoffs last April.
But the Canucks won't have Markstrom, the team's chosen backup, to back up starting goalie Ryan Miller. He suffered an undisclosed and unseen injury at the end of the Canucks' practice Tuesday in Vancouver and has been replaced by minor-leaguer Richard Bachman.