What to do with Luongo

This recent groin injury to Luongo could not have come at a better time for the Canucks and Mike Gillis. The season is still young, none of their NorthWest rivals are playing that well, the rest of the team is playing well and can support a weaker goalie and it gives a chance to see what the other goalies can do… because not to ring alarm bells but Luongo’s contract expires after next year and some major decisions will need to be taken with this team who has never won the Stanley Cup since inception in 1970.


Luongo so far

_____GP__ MIN___ W___ L___ GAA___ SV%____ SO
06-07_ 76___ 4490 ___47 ___22___ 2.28 ____.921 _____5
07-08_ 73___ 4233 ___35 ___29 ___2.38 ____.917 _____6
08-09_ 19___ 1076 ___11____ 5 ____2.17____ .928 ____ 5

Luongo has been as good as advertised in his 2 ½ years in Vancouver so far. He has played 90% of the team’s games with a save percentage around 920. The whole team outlook has changed and there is a definite swagger with such a stalwart behind them. He makes the big saves, challenges the shooters and control things near his goal. Even though it took time for the team to announce it, there was very little hesitation in that locker room about who was the captain of this team.

07-08 was a more difficult season as backend injuries and the easing in of many rookies (Edler, Raymond, Hansen among others) were coupled with a difficult pregnancy for Luongo’s wife which seemed to affect his play in the middle of the season. Of course, the whole makeup of the team was being changed too as Naslund & Morrison were being phased out due to declining play and desire to focus the team on the Sedins and strong, responsible defensive play.

Trading away locker-room cancer and overall troubled person Bertuzzi was already a plus for this team but obtaining an elite goaltender in return makes the trade one of the most lop-sided of the decade.


Schneider’s play

I focused my attention particularly on Schneider’s play during Sunday’s game versus Colorado and while a 4-3 shootout loss might not look like a great goalie performance, the kid did manage to play a very good game. What I mean by good game is that he made saves, kept his team in the game and the goals allowed were redirects he could not do much on… but his style is definitely not my cup of tea! He is a crouched butterfly guy: constantly down on his knees: the pads spread wide, bent over with his arms resting on his pads. I do not know if it was due to nervousness but he spent most of the night down, regardless of how imminent the danger was. From the way he made stops and moved around, I don’t think it was nervousness, I think that is his style… a style I am not sure he can succeed with in the NHL unless he has the quickest hands! Once he goes for his second tour across the league and teams start to know him, how will he handle teams constantly shooting high to avoid his pads? He made some nice saves during the game but it always seemed more reflex than positioning… and he looked seriously outmatched in the shootout as all 3 Avalanche guys beat him high stick side. I tried to look at it dispassionately and regardless of my aversion for goalies going down too early but I still do not see #1 nhl talent unless a top notch goaltending coach spends some heavy time with him to improve his style. You can get by in US College and the American league mainly on reflexes but in the NHL, with any good shooter able to lift the puck at will in any situation, it will become a glaring weakness easily exploited.


The view from Gillis’ office

While the recent groin injury was self-inflicted on a quite innocuous play, there is very little indication that the 29 year old goalkeeper will break down anytime soon and he should continue to be among the top 3 for the remainder of his contract which runs until summer 2010. With a cap hit of 6.75 but actual salary of 7mil this year and 7.5 next year, Luongo does not come cheap but is still a good deal for what he brings. His next contract will probably bring him even more money when you consider the state of many teams’ goaltending and the very rare goalies even reaching free agency. It wouldn’t be impossible to see 8.5 a year for a 31 year old goaltender in his prime.

What is the GM to do then? Luongo drove a hard bargain after the trade as he knew Nonis had no choice but to sign him long term and he seems to hold all the cards this time around too: A town crazy for him, a team built around him, performance good enough to carry a team and good examples that the team goes in the tank everytime he gets injured.

Can Gillis even afford to let Luongo go? Can he afford to approach the summer of 2010 with Luongo unsigned? Trading Luongo before he reaches Free Agency would bring a boatload of talent but what then? Is it back to the early 90s with a good offense and no goalie? Will this town even accept a trade of Luongo when the team had 10M of cap space unspent this year?

What will Luongo see as 2010 approach? Will he see the Canucks as a somewhat better Panthers squad still too crappy to get him to the Cup? Even though the team seems to have been extremely accommodating during the birth of his child last year, how will he view things… how will he view their actions in regard to his wife and child maybe in danger and in hospital?

Things look pretty clear from Gillis point of view: he must resign Luongo next summer before he even sniffs Free Agency and find a good trade partner on which to dump his touted prospect with great minor stats but lack of major league technique. Rebuilding this team makes sense everywhere except in goal.

Live Game Blog: Vancouver - Pittsburgh

This should be a great matchup: Crosby, Malkin & cie vs Luongo and the line of Burrows, Kesler & Hansen. Sad Fleury is out but it will be a battle of Luongo vs his old bench warmer, Dany Sabourin. Also my first chance to really watch closely the revamped Penguins this year.... and what better than watching hockey at 11am on a Saturday!


Most Common lines
* things got changed as Hansen & Cooke were kicked out 30secs into the game

VAN
22 Sedin 33 Sedin 38 Demitra
14 Burrows 17 Kesler
18 Bernier 42 Wellwood 9 Pyatt
21 Raymond

8 Mitchell 55 OBrien
23 Edler 2 Ohlund
32 Nycholat 4 Davison


PIT
9 Dupuis 87 Crosby 81 Satan
25 Talbot 71 Malkin 17 Sykora
48 Kennedy 11 Staal 15 Zigomatis

44 Opik 58 Letang
43 Boucher 13 Goligoski
4 Scuderi 2 Gill

1st period 15:06 left (VAN 0-0 PIT)

- The Penguins powerplay looks so incredibly disorganized... but it's only appereance. It's a very good scheme as the PK unit doesn't really know how to set up. Interestingly enough, Malkin is the QB distributing the puck and not Crosby. He sets up high in the face off circle with 2 wingers near the goal.

Jesus! Luongo looks hurt. He stretched out on a shot and seems to have sprained his left leg. Like Dallas with Morrow, if this turns out long term, their season is over; no offense to Curtis Sanford.

End of 1st (VAN 1-0 PIT)

Demitra scored on a weird bouncy play with 2mins left in the period. It was a lucky bounce but Demitra showed great presence to follow the puck, sneak in behind the net and shoot it in before Sabourin comes across. It's been heavy going in that first period with lots (and lots) of penalties (60mins so far) and very good PK preventing any exciting PP play.

Ohlund & Mitchell lead the Canucks with 8mins of ice time while Crosby is the only Pen over 8mins (Letang & Malkin are next at 7:45)

End of 2nd (VAN 2-0 PIT)

Daniel Sedin moves around the defense and sneaks the puck past Sabourin early in the 2nd to double the lead... and that was pretty much it for excitement in this period. Sanford has played well replacing Luongo (no update on injury but they said he isn't coming back for this game)

I like the two young dmen for the Pens. Letang & Goligoski look like keepers to me. Both are very mobile (speed is not the main thing for a defenseman, they need to be quick on turns, good to change direction and great quick bursts of speed), have good offensive sense and play a simple puck possession defensive game.

3rd period (VAN 2-1 PIT)

Zigomanis scored 30secs in going 5-hole a few seconds after the power play ended. Let's see how the two teams will react with this 1 goal game and 19mins left.

End of game (VAN 3-1 PIT)

Demitra closes the deal in an empty net. The Sedin brothers participated on all 3 goals for the Canucks who end up a 6-day 4-game road trip with 3 wins and 1 shootout loss. They play one hell of a boring game when ahead. This 3rd period was unbearable to watch. Even with Crosby, Malkin & company going full out, there probably was only 2 or 3 good scoring chances. A continuous stream of stick swinging, physical defensive play, cutting off the boards... and then when the Canucks get the puck, they skate midice, dump it in and go back to the bench. Mitchell played most for Vancouver with 26:54, most of it against Crosby's line.

I've watched the Canucks play both the Rangers and Penguins this week... and if those two teams are among the class of the Eastern Conference, the Stanley Cup is staying out West this year. The Penguins were unable to generate any offense all afternoon. They like to move in along the boards and pass it up the middle when reaching the face off circle... but that play is very predictable and a good defensive team will simply not leave any space in the slot like that. You need to get the puck down low to stretch out their defense... then you will end with open space in the slot... but coming straight into the zone? that spot will be occupied with a good defensive team. Philippe Boucher ended up with 26:17 of ice time... about 5mins too much for a guy acquired this week and on a contending team. The Pens need to beef up that blueline!

The Sedin with Demitra were great but Willie Mitchell played an awesome game. Wellwood (11mins of icetime) and Mason Raymond (16mins) were invisible.

Hard to find someone who played that good for the Penguins! Zigomanis played a nice 3rd line game and he is a beast on faceoffs... but Letang was the best guy: he skated great, made some awesome passes opening up the neutral zone, broke a few plays with good stickwork and plays "his" game defensively ie he knows he won't win many physical battles so he keeps his feet and stick moving and wins the battles in the corners that way.

and the question of the day: Who is Jordan Staal? ... and the question for the Pens, what is he worth especially he doesn't seem interesting in resigning before becoming a restricted Free Agent this coming summer! The guy has some skills: he has a crazy long reach, good possession skills, has an easy stride which make him look very slow... but it looks more and more like his 29 goal rookie season was a fluke. There isn't that much there offensively. I think Kesler is a better player than Staal... but both are shutdown defensive players. I just think that Staal might have more value in a trade than what he actually brings on the ice.

This game wasn't too fun to watch, hopefully the early night game will be better? what to watch?? NYI-BUF, CHI-TOR, PHO-PHI, CBJ-ATL, BOS-MTL?

I think the choice is easy... you have to go for the battle of the NorthEast in Montreal! especially after the Bruins bitchslapped the Habs Thursday last week 6-1 in Boston! See you back at 4:30

Live Game Blog: Vancouver - New York Rangers

Most common lines
VAN
22 Sedin 33 Sedin 38 Demitra
14 Burrows 17 Kesler 42 Hansen
18 Bernier 4 2 Wellwood 9 Pyatt

8 Mitchell 6 Salo
55 OBrien 23 Edler
2 Ohlund 32 Nycholat
* Took me until the 2nd period to find out who was the 6th dman is for the Canucks. I dont think he has played at all in the 1st!

NYR

24 Callahan 23 Drury 91 Naslund
13 Zherdev 17 Dubinsky 34 Voros
20 Sjostrom ??? ???
* down by 3 goals early in the 2nd, things get muddled

6 Redden 5 Girardi
3 Rozsival 45 Kalinin
27 Mara 24 Staal

1st period 9:15 left
(vid 0:45) Wellwood completely dekes Lundqvist out of his skates on a breakaway to give VAN the lead.

Mason Raymond gets denied on another breakaway 30secs later... is the Rangers D too slow to keep up?

(vid 1:01) Shorthanded breakaway... This should never happen. Burrows slaps it home stick side. Once again, the Rangers defense can't keep up.

End of the 1st period (VAN 2-0 NYR)
That line of Burrows, Kesler and Hansen is buzzing around like crazy and noone seems able to stop them... maybe be better to wait until they lose the puck on their own than attempt to chase them!

Wellwood might be great offensively but he makes bonehead moves in his own zone... and I don't mean bad bounce or losing the puck on the other guy's strong effort, I just mean stupid slow passes down the middle.

Luongo has been strong in the first. The Rangers shoots often and from lots of different angles, very quick release that surprises the goalie and tests their reflexes and preparedness.

2nd period 16:30 left (VAN 4-1 NYR)

Hold on here! I can't keep up! The Rangers keep losing the battles in their own zones and the Canucks keep passing it in front and slamming it in the back of the net! First, Burrows from Hansen then Johnson on a very similar play.

(vid 2:16) Drury shows why he was named captain. He carries the puck from the blue line, skates around a slow moving dman and dekes Luongo to bring a semblance of competiveness into the game

2nd period 13:00 left (VAN 5-1 NYR)

I guess the rest of the Rangers aren't too much into it! They take two penalties in a row for a long 5 on 3. The Canucks are using an extremely wide pentagon for the 5-on-3 with both wingers along the goal line. They pass it around and the dmen slowly move in to close things down.

A long review on a puck trickling in (vid 2:40) comes out no goal but the Canucks scores a few seconds later... and then Lundqvist just bolts out of the goal for the bench! I don't know if that was planned... It didnt look like it, just look like King Henrik had enough and decided to let Valiquette handle the rest of that 5-on-3 and a 5-1 losing proposition... gotta watch that GAA!

End of the 2nd (VAN 5-2 NYR)

The Rangers scored on a broken play and gave a much better effort at the end of the period. We will see how the Canucks react as I am sure the Rangers will come out strong.

3rd period 4:00 left (VAN 5-3 NYR)

Do you wanna bet Shane O'Brien isn't playing the next game? He just took his 5th minor penalty of the game, none of them "good" penalties. The kid seems to panic and grab when he gets beaten. The Canucks killing this penalty with 2mins left afterwards will seal the deal.

End of the 3rd (VAN 6-3 NYR)

Overall, the Canucks play a very good possession game, relentless pursuit and everybody backchecking. It's a team that works hard and has some good speed with Mason Raymond, Kesler, Burrows and the Sedins who look slow but somehow get around faster than their pursuers. The defense is adequate only. Ohlund & Salo are overrated and can be easily pushed around defensively. Of course, with Luongo in goal, anybody would look good.

The Rangers did not look like a contender tonight. With Gomez out, it became apparent that this team needs to have 3 good lines rolling offensively to have a chance. Their defense looks awful, especially Redden and Rozsival.

Burrows was the best player on the ice and pesky Ryan Callahan one of the rare bright spots for the blueshirts.