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I never thought Roberto Luongo would become favorite athlete


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Man, what a media roller coaster we live in and I was the 1st one to jump in line. We were all skeptical when Vancouver used their 1st round pick on a rather unknown Cory Schneider. All the hype in town was surrounding Marek Schwarz, former Giants goaltender who was drafted 17th overall (ahead of Schneider). But management saw something in Schneider that none of us did and as the years passed, he became one of the best goalie prospects in hockey.

I was one of the many Canucks fans that was on cloud 9 the day I heard we acquired Roberto Luongo. Finally we got the right guy from Florida (no offence to Kevin Weekes AKA 'the goalie of the future for the Canucks').

Luongo won us all over and the team had high expectations after a couple of years. But after a couple years of disappointing playoff exits, Cory Schneider rode in like the knight in shining armor, shining so bright that Mike Gillis just couldn't ignore it.

I was the 1st one to tell you Roberto needed to go. I was singing Schneider's praises to anyone that would listen. But Mike Gillis mishandled the situation from day one when he asked for moon, stars and sky from Brian Burke, in return for Roberto. I realize Gillis' asking price went down significantly and after additional failed attempts at trading Luongo, Aquelini most likely gave Gillis an ultimatum, so one goalie had to go and Schneider was by far the easier one to trade...but I feel for Luongo and he's really earned my respect over how he has handled the whole ordeal.

I remember in the past he wasn't always quick to accept blame and wasn't always viewed as a team 1st guy. Sometimes he wouldn't come out for a post game interview, he didn't always handle the media as well as he does now. But to his credit he has continued to develop year after year both physically and mentally. He has really come to embrace the fans of Vancouver, as well as social media and just hockey fans in general. He's accessible, interactive and he's polarizing. Much more than the average athlete, which is even more important in a big hockey market like Vancouver.

I'm sure he's pissed about how this whole situation dragged out for both him and Cory and rightfully so. But I can't wait for the first game of the season when the fans chant LLLLUUUUUU louder then ever before and he gets that shiver down his spine to remind him that's the whole reason why he plays the game. That and to win the Stanley Cup and I think I speak for the majority of Canucks fans when I say that we want you to be the goalie that raises the cup for us.

Go Canucks go!

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If Luo gave one year's salary to charities he could pretend he is an amateur again and just make the mental 'reset'.

He did say he would play for nothing just to hear Torts' pressers and the whole team is being 'reset' right now.

In reality he will play for the money (and the promise of a trade if he plays lights out) as it is pretty clear he has checked out.

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If Luo gave one year's salary to charities he could pretend he is an amateur again and just make the mental 'reset'.

He did say he would play for nothing just to hear Torts' pressers and the whole team is being 'reset' right now.

In reality he will play for the money (and the promise of a trade if he plays lights out) as it is pretty clear he has checked out.

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If Luo gave one year's salary to charities he could pretend he is an amateur again and just make the mental 'reset'.

He did say he would play for nothing just to hear Torts' pressers and the whole team is being 'reset' right now.

In reality he will play for the money (and the promise of a trade if he plays lights out) as it is pretty clear he has checked out.

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People seem to have short memories with Lu.....I mean, he isn't the 07-09 Luongo anymore. He seems fundamentally flawed, there are parts of his game (breakaways, going down too soon, diving across the crease as opposed to butterfly on one timers, holes, bad goals that he can't forget) that are broken, and I don't see how he can fix them now at 35.

I wish he would just forget about goalie coaches and play however he feels, seemed to do that alot more when he first came here and worked alot better for us. But I don't see that happening unfortunately, and after this season I feel like we're going to be forced into using that buyout clause.

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People seem to have short memories with Lu.....I mean, he isn't the 07-09 Luongo anymore. He seems fundamentally flawed, there are parts of his game (breakaways, going down too soon, diving across the crease as opposed to butterfly on one timers, holes, bad goals that he can't forget) that are broken, and I don't see how he can fix them now at 35.

I wish he would just forget about goalie coaches and play however he feels, seemed to do that alot more when he first came here and worked alot better for us. But I don't see that happening unfortunately, and after this season I feel like we're going to be forced into using that buyout clause.

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Well, I am or was a Schneider fan. But I have no hatred towards Luongo. He's a great athlete, has great humour and we saw him leading Canada to the Gold Medal Game where they won. Now I really hope he finally gets a chance to do the similar thing which is win the big prize with the Canucks!

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Well, I am or was a Schneider fan. But I have no hatred towards Luongo. He's a great athlete, has great humour and we saw him leading Canada to the Gold Medal Game where they won. Now I really hope he finally gets a chance to do the similar thing which is win the big prize with the Canucks!

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