RESURRECTED?

In 2006, James Sheppard was taken ninth overall by the Minnesota Wild in the NHL draft at the-then GM Place. Fast-forward 10 years, and he’s back in the same building, this time trying to resurrect a hockey career that began with so much promise. The Vancouver Canucks signed Sheppard, late of the Kloten Flyers in the Swiss A-League, to a PTO (professional try out) contract on Wednesday, along with fellow unrestricted free agent Tuomo Ruutu. Sheppard, a centre, has been in Vancouver all summer skating with Canucks vets. The 28-yearold Halifax native had been playing with Kloten in Europe, recording 11 goals and 14 assists in 37 games. He has career NHL totals of 23 goals and 68 assists across 394 games spent with New York, San Jose and Minnesota prior to that. Ruutu is a name that has been mentioned with several teams looking for forward depth over the off-season. The left winger had a single assist in 33 games with the Devils last season.