La la la Luongo

Ever since late June of 2006  when it was announced that there was a blockbuster trade between Florida and Vancouver that would send Todd Bertuzzi to the Sunshine State, and Roberto Luongo to the Great Northwest, Luongo has had his doubters, but this has changed since Christmas.

A few years ago, Canucks ex-GM Brian Burke labeled Vancouver a “goalie graveyard,” and rightfully so. Since Kirk Mclean’s departure in 1998, the Canucks have gone through 17 different goaltenders, an average of just under two new goalies every year.

So when the news came that the Team Canada back-up goalie, and arguably the best all-around goalie in the league was going to be a Canuck, Vancouver fans couldn’t be blamed if they were a bit nervous as to Luongo’s lack of playoff experience, or if he would just get hurt, which Canuck fans have seen so often.

For the four months before the season, Luongo was labeled as Vancouver’s “seven million dollar question mark,” which obviously just pumped up the Canadian ‘tender who was happy to finally be playing in Canada, and even more so playing in a hockey city like Vancouver.

Two weeks before the start of the season, the Hockey News came out with its power rankings which saw the Canucks missing the playoffs, finishing in the ninth spot in the West.

Game one of the season saw Luongo facing the rival Detroit Red Wings, who nobody gave the Canucks a chance against. “Bobby Lu,” as Don Taylor calls him, played an absolutely stellar game, making one of the saves of the year as he picked a shot out of the air with his glove that was coming through Kris Draper’s legs. He did let one soft goal in, but that was the only one the Wings could get past the Montreal native.

The radio shows after the game had crazed fans in tears of joy, calls that sounded like Vancouver had just won the Stanley Cup.

“We’ve got a goalie, we’ve got a coach, and we can out work any team in the league! The cup is ours!” said one fan who called in to the TEAM 1040’s post-game show.

The next 15 or so games didn’t go so well.

Luongo was still making stellar saves, but those soft goals were going in game after game, and hockey junkies were talking about how it could have been a mistake trading for Luongo, especially since the offensive output wasn’t there for the Canucks.

Think about it. Luongo and his family come from one of the warmest places in the world, to a place where every day is cloudy, overcast and muggy, days that all Vancouverites know can get you down. His wife didn’t know anyone, his kids had to attempt to make new friends at school, and the Luongo household just wasn’t a happy one. Add that to the intense pressure that the media was putting on him, and he’s bound to be off his game.

But Luongo got used to it.

Since Christmas the Canucks are 24-4-4, and about 22 of those wins, and all of the after-regulation losses, can be credited to the wall that Luongo symbolzies in the Vancouver goal.

All year the Hart Trophy for the player deemed most valuable to his team (not the most valuable player of the league, what the trophy has now become) was supposed to be a runaway for the 19-year-old Sidney Crosby, but Luongo has started to turn some heads, since everyone around the league knows that without Luongo, Vancouver wouldn’t even be close to third place in the West, the spot they currently hold with 14 games to go.

Luongo has proven that he is without a doubt one of the elite goalies in the league, and his competitive drive has left his team very confident that every mistake isn’t going to result in a goal, which is a nice change since the Cloutier era.

“This is my year. Nothing can stop me,” said Luongo in an interview with the Hockey News.

This has got to be the most refreshing quote that we’ve had a Canuck say since I can remember. 

The only doubt left is that Luongo has yet to play a game in the playoffs, as his previous six years in the league were played in Florida, one of the worst teams in the league.

The Canucks will be there this year, and all Luongo has to do is continue his super-human play and the Canucks are going to be serious contenders in the playoffs, since we’ve all seen goalies steal series before.

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