Hockey

Brent Burns' chances of making Canada's 2010 Olympic men's hockey team may be in doubt as the Minnesota Wild defenceman has been officially diagnosed with a concussion.

Burns missed Friday's game, and it is unknown how much longer he'll be out. Head Coach Todd Richards said it was likely a result from a collision Burns had with a teammate during a 3-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday night. Burns played the rest of the game with the injury, and in fact nearly tied the score in the final seconds.

The severity of the concussion is not known.

"It's a setback now for him, and for us," said Richards, according to NHL.com. "But it's something that we've got to deal with."

Burns was sidelined for the final 19 games of last season, also with a concussion.

So far this season, the defender has two goals and eight assists in 21 games for the Wild and has tallied 18 penalty minutes. His plus/minus of -11 leaves something to desired, ranking him 729th in the NHL in that category, a stat Burns has often called ‘misleading' this season. In his last five games, Burns' plus-minus has shown dramatic improvement, actually going as high at +4 and only as low as -1.

The 24-year-old Ajax native had attended Canada's Olympic orientation camp in Calgary this past August, trying to make his first Olympic team, which will be named on Dec. 31.