Evan Oberg Gets The Call

It's been a rough season for Vancouver Canuck defensemen, so maybe this isn't a good thing. Maybe it's a curse.

No matter what, former UMD Bulldog defenseman Evan Oberg is expected to become the 13th defenseman to play in a game for the Canucks this season, as they face Nashville Thursday night.

Oberg was called up from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League after Kevin Bieksa went down with a broken foot. He joins rookies Chris Tanev and Yann Sauve on the blue line.

This won't be Oberg's NHL debut, as he was called up in early January of last year. He played two games last year for the Canucks, and got in 70 for the Moose.

So far this year, Oberg has six goals and four assists in 34 games for Manitoba.

We'll see if Oberg can get enough ice time to make an impact for the Canucks, or if he's simply destined to be a short-term call-up at this point. He just turned 23 Wednesday, so it's not like the Canucks need to rush him into the NHL meat-grinder.

Of course, if some of their veterans don't start getting healthy, they may have no choice.

More than anything, this gives me a chance to plop one of my all-time favorite YouTubes into a post. Oberg may have only played for two years at UMD, but he was a large part of one of the greatest moments in UMD hockey history.