By Balraj Dhillon (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: November 2, 2011
What does Roberto Luongo dress up as for Halloween? For the past five seasons, he’s gone as one of the worst goaltenders in the NHL; this season is no different. Rogers Arena has felt more like a haunted house than home in October for Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo. Playing in just seven of the Canucks first 11 games to start the season, Luongo has been sub-par at best, posting a record of 3-3-1, along with a horrid 3.54 goals against average and a save percentage of 0.869. One has to wonder why he puts on this ugly costume every October.
Since the lockout, Luongo has consistently won 30 or more games every season. In the last five seasons, he has the most accumulated wins in the NHL. In five seasons with the Canucks, Luongo has been a finalist for the Vezna trophy twice, which is awarded to the top goaltender in the League. He has also been a League MVP finalist once, and he won the Jennings trophy with Cory Schneider, which is awarded to the NHL’s top goaltending tandem. To top it all off, Luongo lead the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals last season; whether they made it that far because of Luongo is open for debate.
As many Canucks fans wish for Luongo to be traded away and let back up Cory Schneider take over the starting reigns, many forget that Luongo has always played below average to begin the season. Last season, Luongo began the season with a 2-4-1 record in October. In fact, since 2006 Luongo has never had a winning record in October.
However, many Canucks faithful are beginning to lose their patience with the $10 million goalie after blowing the Stanley Cup Finals, a seven-game series in which he was pulled three times. Expectations this year are even higher than those in seasons past; the core of players that went to the Stanley Cup Finals a few months ago stayed intact and grew even stronger as a team. However, Luongo has already been pulled twice in this short season and the Canucks have been shut out three times in 11 games after only being shut out five times in 82 games last season. Despite the uncomforting start, Canucks fans have much to look forward to, including recently acquired winger David Booth from the Panthers in exchange for Mikael Samuelsson.
Fortunately for Canucks fans, the calendar has turned a page into November and if history repeats itself, Luongo will catch fire and play like a top five NHL goalie. Between the months of November and April Roberto Luongo is unbeatable. With Selke winner Ryan Kesler back in the line up, the addition of David booth who is a young, proven 30-goal scorer, and the Sedin twins beginning to find their stride coming off of back-to-back Art Ross trophy wins, the Canucks should find themselves atop of the Western Conference standings in the upcoming weeks.
Is Cory Schneider the answer to a 40-year Stanley Cup drought? Many are starting to believe so. But don’t count Luongo out yet. With a high price tag comes high expectations and Luongo knows that. He’s won the Gold Medal in the Olympics, despite giving up a late tying goal. He’s been all the way to game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals and knows the mental strength that is required to win. He’s hungry to return to where he was in June and prove his critics wrong. Thank-goodness it’s finally November.
