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Canucks pay a very brief tribute to Ryan Kesler in his return to Vancouver

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Thursday night, Ryan Kesler returned to Vancouver for the first time since being traded to the Anaheim Ducks over the summer. The Canucks honored Kesler for his contributions, as is customary for teams to do for former players.

However, the video the Canucks showed was brief, to say the least – it was over in roughly 15 seconds – and Kesler's return was met with a mixture of cheers and boos.

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwYajtFounU]

There might still be a few ruffled feathers in Vancouver regarding Kesler, who reportedly requested a trade from the team before ending up in Anaheim in exchange for Nick Bonino, Luca Sbisa, and a first- and third-round draft pick in the 2014 NHL draft.

Kesler, drafted by the Canucks in 2003, played in Vancouver for nine seasons, and scored 393 points in 655 games. In 20 games for the Ducks, Kesler has 6 goals and 9 assists.

The Ducks defeated the Canucks 4-3 in a shootout. Kesler did not register a point. And though Vancouver eventually lost, the Canucks' Twitter account made sure to get some trolling in after Radim Vrbata scored a 2nd period goal to put the Canucks up 3-2:


--Katie Brown