Courageous Sami Salo Inspires Teammates

February 13 2011 Last updated at 02:06 PM ET

VANCOUVER -- Sami Salo can put another tick in the comeback column.

Salo made a successful return Saturday from a torn Achilles tendon that had sidelined him for more than half a year as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames 4-2.

"A lot of sweat, blood and pain in the last six months obviously paid off," said Salo. "We put in a plan in July what we were going to do and we knew that it wasn't going to be easy. It was going to take a lot of mental toughness and a lot of hard work. Right now, it feels obviously good."

He suffered the injury in the summer while playing a form of floor hockey in his native Finland and initially was more concerned about being able to walk than play again in the NHL. The 36-year-old Turku native has a history of freak injuries, but this one took the numero uno award.

He described it as the most difficult of his career, but made a fairly seamless return. His solid 16:34 of ice time made it easier for the Canucks to deal with the absence of injured key defensemen Dan Hamhuis (concussion), Keith Ballard (knee) and Alex Edler (back).

"Stepping out on the ice and getting a cheer from the crowd was, obviously, encouraging and I felt pretty good out there," said Salo.

Following a three-game conditioning stint in the minors, he excelled early. Playing on the power play, his adept passing eventually helped Alex Burrows open the scoring midway through the first period with his first of two goals on the night.

"I think I was just looking for solid shifts, getting into a rhythm," said Salo, who took an interference penalty in the third period. "I wasn't really expecting too much. I was just trying to keep it simple and get the legs going and then move on shift by shift."

Yet another courageous comeback from Salo is inspiring his teammates as they deal with the loss of the three injured rearguards and try to maintain their hold on first place overall heading into the playoffs. Quiet by nature, he leads by example after example of doing whatever he can for the team.

"It was great," said Mikael Samuelsson, who also scored two goals. "Good for him. He looked happy out there."

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