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No Need To Worry About Luongo

CanuckNation.ca

Entry posted by CanuckNation.ca

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All I’ve heard since the weekend is that the Canucks are in trouble with suspect goaltending. Really? Maybe Luongo hasn’t been as good as he was in his first year, but he’s hardly had a bad year.

The guy got 40 wins this year. Except for his first season as a Canuck (47 wins in 2006-07), this was his most productive year. 5th in the league in wins.

Has he been stellar down the stretch? No, he hasn’t. Does this automatically signal an early exit from the playoffs? Hardly. Sure the defense isn’t what it once was, but it’s been widely documented that Luongo hates losing more than just about anything. Once the playoffs start is there any reason to think that he wouldn’t be ready?

What’s the other knock against Luongo? That he hasn’t been past the second round of the playoffs in his career. How much does that matter this year? Let’s see….the number of goaltenders with Stanley Cup Finals experience this season numbers precisely, two. Martin Brodeur and Marc-Andre Fleury. Sure, Ilya Bryzgalov went to the Finals a few years ago, but sitting on the bench does not qualify as experience in the Finals.

Who would you rather go into the post season with? A goaltender who’s widely considered among the best three in the game, or one of these guys (with their playoff experience): Nabokov? Bryzgalov? Ryan Miller? Craig Anderson? Jimmy Howard? Pekka Rinne? Please.

It wasn’t Fleury who got the call when things went rough for Martin Brodeur during the Olympics, was it? It was Roberto Luongo who came up with four crucial victories to help ensure Canada’s gold medal.

I have a strong feeling that the Luongo you see skate on to the ice on Thursday is going to be different than the one who struggled after the Olympics. And much better.

This post originally appeared on CanuckNation.ca - not all posts that appear here will be cross-posted from that site, and not everything that appears here will be posted on the original site. Feedback on posts is always appreciated.

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CanuckInUS

I'll give you three numbers: 7, 8, and .500.

7 -- The number of goals Luongo gave up in his last appearance in the playoffs.

8 -- The number of goals Luongo gave up to the Kings in his last game against them.

.500 -- Luongo's career winning percentage in the postseason.

Just this month, Luongo allowed two goals in the last 50 seconds to let Minnesota take the Canucks to overtime. Also, Luongo allowed the tying goal to Team USA in the Gold Medal game in the waning seconds, and that was with an all-star defense (at least, compared to the Canucks blue-line crew) at his disposal. I'm not saying Luongo can't change what he's done before, but the Kings are the perfect team that could be a thorn in Luongo's glove.

The Canucks defense is very suspect right now. If the line of Kopitar-Smyth-Williams get hot, the Kings are very capable of pulling off the upset.

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Canuckee
I'll give you three numbers: 7, 8, and .500.

7 -- The number of goals Luongo gave up in his last appearance in the playoffs.

8 -- The number of goals Luongo gave up to the Kings in his last game against them.

.500 -- Luongo's career winning percentage in the postseason.

Just this month, Luongo allowed two goals in the last 50 seconds to let Minnesota take the Canucks to overtime. Also, Luongo allowed the tying goal to Team USA in the Gold Medal game in the waning seconds, and that was with an all-star defense (at least, compared to the Canucks blue-line crew) at his disposal. I'm not saying Luongo can't change what he's done before, but the Kings are the perfect team that could be a thorn in Luongo's glove.

The Canucks defense is very suspect right now. If the line of Kopitar-Smyth-Williams get hot, the Kings are very capable of pulling off the upset.

Luongo has been fantastic in the playoffs if you look at his save percentage and GGA, despite game 6 against the Hawks last year he has been fantastic, the problem was our defenseman giving the puck away and scoring most of the time. Really, your going to base his playoffs on one game and one regular season game? Come on, obviously you haven't seen the 06/07 playoffs when Luongo carried the Canucks on his back and playoffs by himself? This guy is amazing, and when he is doing his best, he's the best in the world. Yes, it depends on Luongo, but I'm sure he will come through as he did in the Olympics. ( Don't tell me Canada played great even though their offense and defense died when they had the lead in the last third period.

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CanuckInUS

GAA and save% are nice and all, but there's only one stat that matters in the playoffs: Wins. And Luongo has only won half his playoff starts. I'm not saying all the playoff losses are his fault, but in playoff hockey, this is where your goalie has to become extraordinary instead of just good.

Luongo's track record in the playoffs suggests that he hasn't been extraordinary. You can't dispute that.

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CanuckNation.ca

Is he suddenly going to turn perfect as soon as the puck drops in game 1? Not likely. But is he going to keep getting better if the Canucks keep winning. Yeah, I believe he is.

And his playoff record is much better than that of Jimmy Howard, Pekka Rinne, and Jonathan Quick. Or would you rather have one of those guys between the pipes?

I'm not saying the guy is unbeatable. He is. But knowing how he CAN play makes me feel a whole lot better that he's playing for the Canucks.

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NZCanuck
Luongo's track record in the playoffs suggests that he hasn't been extraordinary. You can't dispute that.

Sorry but I disagree. Put aside the final game against the Hawks and surely you can see that Lu was the only reason the Canucks had any playoff success.

Ffs we managed to win the Stars series even though we got shut out in 3 of 7 games- and he hasn't shown the ability to be extra-ordinary?

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BiesKO#3

Luongo has been fantastic in the playoffs if you look at his save percentage and GGA, despite game 6 against the Hawks last year he has been fantastic, the problem was our defenseman giving the puck away and scoring most of the time. Really, your going to base his playoffs on one game and one regular season game? Come on, obviously you haven't seen the 06/07 playoffs when Luongo carried the Canucks on his back and playoffs by himself? This guy is amazing, and when he is doing his best, he's the best in the world. Yes, it depends on Luongo, but I'm sure he will come through as he did in the Olympics. ( Don't tell me Canada played great even though their offense and defense died when they had the lead in the last third period.

WY

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BiesKO#3

Yeah in the playoffs where the Canucks play 2-1 or 3-2 games Looooosers GAA and Save % should be good. 500 record all with the Canucks should say he has not proven anything or played well to let some good Canuck teams advance past the 2nd round.Captain Overrated is a good name for him so far.

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canuckssuckbigtime

Yes, I agree that the Kings are a superior team and that the Nyucks can only win when they play dirty and don't get caught doing it. But when the Nyucks get caught and lose because of penalty goals, they start crying and playing the blame game. Whiners. Losers. Kings in 6.

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canuckssuckbigtime

Yes, I agree that the Kings are a superior team and that the Nyucks can only win when they play dirty and don't get caught doing it. But when the Nyucks get caught and lose because of penalty goals, they start crying and playing the blame game. Whiners. Losers. Kings in 6.

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