"Mason Raymond was the best Vancouver Canuck forward Wednesday morning.

Sure, he was the only Canuck forward in a sparsely-attended morning skate. But the winger who suffered a broken back in the Stanley Cup final last June continues to make progress and could play sometime during a four-game homestand that starts Tuesday.

"I'm not at the point where I'm ready to go, but I'm still on a steady incline," the winger said of his improvement. "I'm not announcing a date that I have [to return] but everyone sets their goals.""