""Balls of steel. Balls of steel."

When another sold-out GM Place throng broke out in unison to serenade Sami Salo with that chant Tuesday, it was a fitting compliment to the much-maligned Finn.

Say what you want about the Vancouver Canucks defenceman and 40 career injuries that have sidelined him in every imaginable way, the fact he found a way to endure searing testicle pain in what would be the last game of the Western Conference semifinal shouldn't just be a series footnote. It was a statement.

After all, when Alex Edler was lost to a right ankle injury in the first period after being belted into the cornerboards on a heavy check from Dustin Byfuglien, the Canucks were down to five defencemen. Truth be told, they were down to four because Salo was skating on courage in a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Originally thought to have suffered a ruptured testicle when struck by a Duncan Keith slapshot in the first period of Game 4 on Sunday, Salo took it as a personal challenge to play Tuesday. He took two pre-game needles to dull the pain and never thought about not playing.

"We were facing elimination and if there was the slightest chance, I was going to play," said Salo, who managed three shots and logged 19:32. "The doctors gave me a couple of shots before the game and I've never made excuses about injuries and I'll never start doing that."

And in his own unique way, Salo described his injury in this manner: "The general was fine at first, but the battalion was down."

As much as Salo's self-depricating humour has allowed him to laugh in the face of adversity, his quest for a Stanley Cup is running on borrowed time. He has another year left on his deal at $3.5 million US, but the 35-year-old can feel opportunity slipping through his fingers. When the Canucks lost Willie Mitchell to a Grade 2 concussion on Jan. 16, they lost depth that was tough to replace in the race for league supremacy."