Mark Loch

As a loyal Canucks fan, this season has been a thriller. The Sedins' production this season has been both electrifying and unforeseen. After a brilliant 28 goal campaign the season prior, Burrows follows up yet another career season riding shotgun with the twins. Kesler's play has continued to improve, and has shown the hockey world that he more than equal to Mike Richards. Christian Erhoff has been our top defenseman this season, quarterbacking our power play while playing solid hockey in our own zone. Aside from the minor disappointment in Schneider, this season has been a resounding success, and with a world class goalie like Luongo in net, how can one not help but make a case that this is our year for glory? The answer? Roberto Luongo, our franchise player. While many players on this team have been exceeding expectations, Luongo has had a horrid year. In the past the Canucks could play a mediocre game, and rely on Luongo to give them the win. This year however, the only way for the Canucks to win games is to score as many goals as possible, and hope that Luongo does not screw them over – unfortunately for the team, Luongo has shown great aptitude in losing games in which the Canucks were, by far, the better team. Such a performance by your franchise player, one who will be the face of the franchise for the next 12 years, is unacceptable. Despite Luongo's terrible play this season, this is one of the best teams the Canucks have fielded in a while. With six twenty goal scorers, along with the league's leading scorer, the Canucks should have enough talent to match last season's playoff performance. However because of the Luongo Handicap, the Canucks would be very fortuitous if they make it past the second round. Once again, our team's playoff hope seems to be undermined by subpar goaltending. As painful as this is, the irony, nonetheless, amuses me.