He signed in Pittsburgh, but a big piece of Tanner Glass’s heart remains in Vancouver.

And now his home, at least his off-season home, is here, too.

“We are actually buying a place,” Glass said Tuesday after joining several of his former Vancouver Canucks teammates in a skate at UBC.

Glass and his wife Emily are about to close on a Yaletown condo.

“We were planning to do it next summer anyways and I’ve got the time right now,” he said. “We were about to buy furniture and set up in Pittsburgh and said, ‘why are we doing this, we don’t know when we will be back or what the story is.’ So we decided to do this.”

Glass signed a two-year contract worth $1.1 million a year this past summer with the Pittsburgh Penguins after spending a year with the Winnipeg Jets. The Canucks tabled an identical offer to Glass, who played two full seasons with Vancouver before signing with the Jets.

So why didn’t he return to play in the city he loves? Well, Glass figured he’d get more ice time in Pittsburgh and also indicated he was disappointed in the way things ended with the Canucks.

The team insisted it wanted to re-sign him after the 2010-11 season, but then on the eve of free agency indicated it was exploring other options. Glass then signed with the Jets.

Glass plans to continue working out with some of the Canucks during the lockout, but said he may soon explore his options in Europe. He knows there’s not a huge market for third- or fourth-line grinders in the bigger European markets.

“I have looked a little bit, but not too, too seriously yet,” he said. “I think in my mind it’s kind of Nov. 1 when I will start to look over there. But I’m not going to try and go to Russia or anywhere big. I’ll go to Italy or Austria or something like that and try to get a good cultural experience while trying to stay sharp.”

A GOAL AND A WIN: None of the players on the current Canucks roster are playing in Europe, but one of the team’s top prospects is. And Nicklas Jensen is playing very well.

Jensen, Vancouver’s first-round pick (29th overall) in the 2011 draft, has four goals and an assist in eight games with struggling AIK of the Swedish Elite League.

And now he has a win as well. Jensen scored a goal Tuesday night as Stockholm-based AIK beat Rogle 5-3 to end a season-opening, seven-game losing streak.

AIK is tied with Rogle for last place in the 12-team league with six points.

MODO REBOUNDS: After a slow start, Markus Naslund’s Modo team is moving up the Swedish Elite League standings. Modo won its third consecutive game Tuesday, beating Vaxjo 2-0. Modo is now fourth in the league with 15 points, four back of leaders HV 71.

ROOM SERVICE: One of the items up for discussion during NHL labour talks this past weekend was hotel rooms. The NHLPA wants players to have their own rooms on the road. Only players with at least 600 NHL games get their own room.

Defenceman Kevin Bieksa said it’s not a big deal for him.

“I’ve got a great roommate in Kes (Ryan Kesler), so I’m happy,” Bieksa said.

“You know what, you could argue it both ways. There are guys that have their own rooms that maybe do wish they had a roommate because if you are on your own you might feel a little bit left out or out of the loop a little bit as far as dinner and what everybody is doing. When you have a roommate you have somebody to lean on to make plans. It goes both ways.”

bziemer@vancouversun.com

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