Ohlund to undergo eye surgery

Vancouver Canucks defenseman Mattias Ohlund will undergo surgery on his right eye today after his vision failed to come back since being hit in the face with a puck in September.

Vancouver Canucks defenseman Mattias Ohlund will undergo surgery on his right eye today after his vision failed to come back since being hit in the face with a puck in September.

"The doctors have felt all along that the ideal situation would be that Matty's own healing process would solve this problem and it hasn't, so he's going in for surgery," Canucks general manager Brian Burke said prior to Tuesday's game against the San Jose Sharks.

While hopeful, Burke would not speculate on the seriousness of the Swedish player's condition except to say doctors have told him that it is "a remote possibility" that Ohlund's vision may not recover enough for him to play.

What is clear, he said, is that without the surgery Ohlund would not be able to play hockey again.

Burke said the surgery will help relieve the blood and fluid that continues to be built up in his eye.

Ohlund was hit in the eye with a puck during an exhibition game in Ottawa on 21 September, when a shot deflected off Vancouver teammate Dave Scatchard's stick and hit Ohlund across the eye.

There has been no improvement in the right eye's vision since Ohlund met with reporters on 28 October. At the time, he held his hand about six inches from his right eye - still puffy and bloodshot - to indicate the limit of his vision.

Ohlund was the one who elected to have the surgery, Burke said.

Burke said a team of specialists will perform the operation, and should know almost immediately whether the surgery is successful.