Fan base already getting sentimental over Luongo

[ABurrows14]

I have always appreciated Luongo as the starting goalie for the Canucks. I am old enough to remember when Richard Brodeur was the starter and the mediocre goaltending this team has suffered through at times in their history. I have never gone on an anti-Luongo rant when he loses since it's always been a team effort when the losses happened. I was equally disappointed, at times, in pretty much every member of the team when those playoff disappointments took place. I actually remember when the Canucks knocked out the Preds in 2011 telling people that Kesler and Luongo dragged us into the Conference Final against the Sharks. Lou then outdueled Niemi to get to the Final, a goalie who hadn't lost a series before then.

That being said, I believe Cory Schneider is the real deal. The last Canucks back up I had that feeling about was Glen Hanlon. The Canucks kept Brodeur and Hanlon went on to a pretty good career, outplaying Brodeur along the way. Cory has waited patiently for a long time now, watching other young goalies get the chance to be the starter while he toiled in the AHL waiting for his chance. I hate losing Luongo and I hate how it's going down, but it is the right move for the team at this point.

Getting younger means the team can remain a contender for a longer period. I wish Lou the best wherever he goes, even if that turns out to be Chicago. I'll try to keep the swearing to a minimum when they win if he is their goalie. I really hate Toews though, so that makes it tough. I can at least cheer for the guy since I always have, even from when he was with the Panthers.

Great teams make tough calls like this. If Cory turns out to be as good as I believe he is, the Vezina trophies and Lord Stanley's trophy will ease the pain of anyone who misses Lou.

[Kassian]

Dude what are you talking about?

So you think I am the reason Luongo isn't the number one goalie right? That's your assumption given your comment "run out of town".

I, no fan, no media person HAS ANY BEARING ON WHETHER A PLAYER IS TRADED. PLAYERS PLAY AND IF THEY DO NOT PERFORM AS WELL AS THEY CAN, OR IF SOMEONE PERFORMS BETTER AND IS YOUNGER AND CHEAPER THEY GET TRADED.

Fans, Media, do not 'run players out of town'

Lou lovers just keep grabbing at straws.

Face it man, HE IS BEING TRADED, HE IS NO LONGER NUMBER ONE AND IT IS BECAUSE OF HIS PLAY. NOTHING, I REPEAT NOTHING ELSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Commercial Canuck]

The only way a Lu trade looks bad on Vancouver is if he goes on to win a Stanley Cup, and Schneider begins giving up 6+ goals to the same team for 3 years in a row in the playoffs.

[Moonshinefe]

I am sad that the Luongo era has come to an end but this is the nature of the sport and the right time for it to happen.

Everyone saying " we are gonna regret giving up Luongo" I think are wrong cus at his age and length and cost of contract I think it just makes sense for this franchise to cut ties and let a younger, cheaper, and more technically sound goalie in schneider take over.

For everyone saying "Cory has only played 35 games in a season, wait till he plays 65 and wears down" I think are wrong cus Schneider has proven at the AHL level that he doesnt wear down after 60 plus games. In fact he was the best goalie in the league his first full season and took his team to the Calder cup finals and from what I've seen from his play at the NHL level it looks like he could do the same for us.

Now all that being said, anyone on this board that says "Luongo sucks" or "Luongo lost us the cup" are just not very intelligent hockey fans and don't appreciate what Luongo has done for this franchise. Luongo came in and changed the face of this franchise from a team that had great talent and no goaltending to a team that had one of the best goalies in the game. Luongo carried us the first couple of seasons transitioning from the Naslund era to the Sedins era and he pretty much single handedly knocked Dallas out in the first round of his first season here and got us out of our 2 round failures finally and into the cup finals a couple years later. Luongo leads our team in almost every major goalie category and is without doubt the best goalie this franchise has ever seen so far.

Now the obvious knock against Luongo is his mental toughness or his big game melt downs. The thing about Luonngo is he has a really bad tendency to let in bad goals at the wrong time. Now he doesn't always do this in big games because we have all seen him play lights out in big games but the fact remains that he does do it in big games, some really big games, and unfortunately the fan base (including me) sees this and they build resentment and animosity towards the guy for letting us down because we all know how well Luongo can play when he is on his game.

Luongo's time here is undoubtedly over but please fellow fans lets not send this guy (our franchise's best goalie) off with anger, hate, and resentment. Lets send him off how he should be, with remorse that he just fell short of winning a cup here but with great thanks and apprectiation for everything He has accomplished for this franchise and those incredible saves we were all in awe of (you all know there is one in your mind you can think of where you say "how the hell did he stop that!").

[pwnstar]

Hopefully mg doesn't take a bunch of plugs in return

[Islandboss]

Cory will be as good as Lu...,but I think if Lu hadn't had the knee jerk reaction and said he'd waive his NTC as soon as the season was over he could have still been here this year as the starter.The staff only pulled him to get a response outa the team.He played well and was not the problem this year against LA .

But Lu's mouth holds just as much of the blame for him shipping out as anyone.If you can't be man enough to sit on the bench for a few games until the staff realizes it's the team in front of you thats blowing it'... well what happens is the trade mess we have.

[WL Canuck Fan]

media and uneducated fans chase the best goalie in franchise history of out town. thats the head line.

the team made a commitment to him and he to the team. Cory's still unproven as a starter and the pressure from the media insanity.

personally i think cory should have been packaged up and sent out. and chi get louie he can rub it in next spring when he lifts the cup that team would be hard to beat with a great goalie like louie in net.

[Canucksbiggestfan]

I have always supported Luongo and wish he wasn't leaving.

He has given the fans so many great memories along with some bad memories, but to have good memories you need to have bad ones too. He is the best goalie in franchise history and has done a lot for this team.

I will miss Luongo and will cheer him on if/when he goes on to another team.

[OrdinaryBoy]

My favorite player currently in the NHL is Luongo. (Sakic or Roy all time)

I've supported him his whole time here, and defended him vocally against the barbs of my casual Canuck fan friends. I'll continue to support him wherever he goes, and I'll buy tickets to his first return game to Vancouver.

[SimplyHockey]

I am not sure I agree with the fact that a good portion of the fan base went from torching to sentimental. I say this because I think it would be wrong to assume that a vocal few represent a majority of anything.

For instance, it would be fair to say that the rioters of lore do not represent the sentiment of the majority. Nor do those who loudly and frequently say "trade Kesler, he's done", or "Juice for a bag of pucks", or "the Sedin's are soft".

They may be loud, and they may be controversial, and they may even feed our own frustration at times, but I do not believe they represent the majority of fans, or at the very least to assume or state that they do is an unfair assumption of facts not in evidence.

[Tortorella's Rant]

The only way a Lu trade looks bad on Vancouver is if he goes on to win a Stanley Cup, and Schneider begins giving up 6+ goals to the same team for 3 years in a row in the playoffs.

[5minutesinthebox]

I have not taken him for granted. I feel that he should continue playing here even if it means splitting games with Schneider. He's the best goaltender we have ever had and it will be a travesty to lose him. I have a feeling that most Canuck fans that are flaming him are too young to remember back before we had him.

Schneider is great but he's only proven he can be brilliant in short stints. There is a huge difference between 35 and 65 games and down the stretch his brilliance will diminish as the season wears on him. Luongo may not be our clutch but he is our workhorse. He's always solid down the stretch even if he IS outplayed by Schneider. Schneider won't be able to keep it up over the long stretch. Splitting games is our best chance of winning a cup. I truly believe we won't win won without Luongo, even if Schneider might be the one to win it for us. It's an important distinction.

I have a feeling Schneider's terrible puckhandling and the general fatigue/wear down of a 60+ game season will catch up with him more than a lot of people are willing to admit. We need Luongo to continue playing a role on this team at least for another couple of season. We shouldn't hedge our bets just yet. We have both goaltenders signed, moving Luongo should not be a priority until Schneider's contract is due to end and he becomes a UFA.

There shouldn't be any rush to move Luongo (unless we are courting the very unlikely possibility of making room for Weber - and that is the ONLY situation where I think he should be moved right now and that to me is a 1 in a million).

2012-2013 Schneider 40; Luongo 42

2013-2014 Schneider 45; Luongo 37

2014-2015 Schneider 50; Luongo 32.

Then we can feel comfortable trading Luongo. It needs to be a slow process. Schneider may be our uncontested no. 1 come playoff time, but we need Luongo to take a huge chunk of the workload off of Schneider's shoulder. As I said those extra 20 or so games Schneider may end up playing (about the length of a playoff run) makes a HUGE difference down the stretch.

[SimplyHockey]

I tend to agree with the media part.

One of the biggest troubles Lou has had to deal with in the public eye is that of the way he was portrayed when he came here. He was touted as a one man way to the Stanley Cup. Truth is, he was just a good goaltender. Very good, in fact, the best we have ever had, BUT, over-hyped as a one man way to the cup. It was almost as though fans thought we didn't even need a defence with him in goal, that we could play with a bunch of career AHL D, and still breeze our way to the cup.

His large contract was vilified, and continues to be, but lets look at it from some perspective.

1) The only way to continue building the team was to keep a goalie. Our recent prior history in net was dismal, we have been the perennial goalie graveyard for a long time.

2) The only way to keep a goalie was to go the extra mile with a contract. The alternative was back to the Sabourin, Auld, Labarbera saga. No goalie, no team. Period.

3) The only reason we have some of the players we have, is Roberto being here. Hamhuis, Kesler and the Sedins staying, a lot of that has to do with the fact that we have a goalie. Most players are not going to stay, and on top of that give you a home-town discount if you do not have pieces like Lou in place. Bottom line is, you won't have a team, you will just get a bunch of overpaid third line grinders getting you one round deep in the playoff's.

Lou is very much a large part of the success here in Vancouver.

Was he ever the one man ride to the cup? No, but he sure has been a large part of the reason we have been able to build a successful team to this point.

[Salter]

I've harped on him A LOT. And just like other people, I have only looked at mistakes he made. He IS the best goalie this club has ever had and I'm going to miss not seeing #1 on the ice!

[5minutesinthebox]

Dude what are you talking about?

So you think I am the reason Luongo isn't the number one goalie right? That's your assumption given your comment "run out of town".

I, no fan, no media person HAS ANY BEARING ON WHETHER A PLAYER IS TRADED. PLAYERS PLAY AND IF THEY DO NOT PERFORM AS WELL AS THEY CAN, OR IF SOMEONE PERFORMS BETTER AND IS YOUNGER AND CHEAPER THEY GET TRADED.

Fans, Media, do not 'run players out of town'

Lou lovers just keep grabbing at straws.

Face it man, HE IS BEING TRADED, HE IS NO LONGER NUMBER ONE AND IT IS BECAUSE OF HIS PLAY. NOTHING, I REPEAT NOTHING ELSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[disisdayear]

So Schnieder cant perform for a full season? Says who? You? Mr. Expert?

Wow you should be a GM in the NHL if you know so much

put a sock in it dude, go get a clean diaper and move on.

Wow, so tired of these whiny people not realizing that we have a superstar in Schnieder. When he hoists the cup in a nucks uni, I will bombard you with emails asking you if you still believe this garbage you are spewing.

You realize Schnieder has won and been a starter at every level right? He's played 60 plus in the AHL for numerous years right? Yes its not the NHL but clearly fitness and mental strength are not issues.

And how do you propose we find out. Play him 62 and lou 20? Wow, team first Lou won't go for that will he? "time to move on" lou can't handle that can he?

Then there is the cap issue and how much you're tying up in a backup...

None of your comments make any sense

Think deeper man.

[ccc44]

That's true.... he did give us the luxury we took for granted for the past six years that other teams would love to have

The good news is lui can be run out of town and now schneids can provide us with that luxury for the foreseeable future!

[Canvoucer Vanuck]

I hate him

[Fateless]

For the love of God. All you people saying that Schneider isn't proven and that there is a huge difference between 35 and 65 games, I say WELL NO ****ING **** SHERLOCK.

The fact is that until Schneider plays as a starter for at least 75% of the season's games, people are still going to use this retarded excuse of "Schneider hasn't yet proved he can play as a starter". I'm utterly sick of this excuse. Schneider has shown that he NEVER takes a night off and he is ALWAYS competing in every game he plays. He lets in WAY less soft goals than Luongo does day in and day out.

I love Luo for what he did for this franchise, but people need to move past it and realize that Schneider is our new #1 and if you keep pissing on him for not playing a full 60+ games so therefore he shouldn't be starter, he'll NEVER get his chance to be a starter.

I'm not claiming that Schneider is the next Patrick Roy, but I am saying that if you don't give Schneider the job of starter because he hasn't played enough games in one season to make you feel comfortable, it becomes a self-fullfilling prophecy.

[gragnanifan1]

I hate him