"There was better news on the ice than off it when the Vancouver Canucks finally wound up their epic 14-game road trip Wednesday.

Winger Steve Bernier will have sports hernia surgery Thursday and be sidelined at least a month, while minor-league defenceman Brad Lukowich is expected to elect to soon have season-ending shoulder surgery.

Bernier was never able to rid himself of a nagging groin pull in January and started missing games. And when he left the team last week to return to Vancouver for further evaluation, it was revealed that he has a small abdominal tear that requires a surgical procedure. Bernier had 10 goals in his first 45 games, but just one goal in his last 21 outings.

"It happened prior to the Olympic break and he thought he had a pulled groin and it would get better and it got worse," said Canucks general manager Mike Gillis. "He went and got thoroughly checked out and the pain was in a different area, so he has an abdominal tear. We're hoping he'll be back for the playoffs."

Lukowich's situation was more of wear and tear getting to the blueliner.

"It was an ongoing thing and he's had it for quite a while and kept playing through it," said Gillis. "We're going to make a decision in the next few days as whether to operate.""