Yesterday, I was asked to make some predictions about the upcoming Winter Olympic hockey tournament.
When I got to the question about the star who was most likely to disappoint, I found myself fixating on Roberto Luongo.
Don't get me wrong: I'm a fan. I stuck up for Luongo throughout the Cory Schneider years and wanted nothing more than for him to have the opportunity to get back into the Olympic picture and have a chance to play for a second straight gold medal.
I was impressed when Luongo returned to Vancouver and calmly went about his business after the shock of Schneider's trade, and happy to see him as a steady, reliable netminder through the early part of the season.
We're now so finely tuned to the idea of goaltending as a competition, the antennae went up as soon as Eddie Lack played a few good games and his numbers started to eclipse Luongo's.
Then, the bottom fell out for the entire team as the calendar flipped to 2014. At the Olympic break, here's where the goaltenders stand:
Eddie Lack: 22 GP, 8-8-3-2, 2.22 goals-against, .922 save percentage
Roberto Luongo: 42 GP, 19-16-6-3, 2.38 goals-against, .917 save percentage
Joacim Ericsson: 1 GP, 0-0-0-0, 10.00 goals-against, .806 save percentage
First off: poor Joacim Erisson! After that shelling he took as a reliever in Anaheim, I bet he'll never want to to go Disneyland.
Secondly—yeah, Lack's numbers are better than Luongo's, and it's not like Eddie has only played easy games. He was a bright spot when Luongo was injured back in January.
Now that Team Canada has arrived in Sochi and is three days away from playing its first game, another goalie's stats are probably an even more important comparison:
Carey Price: 48 GP, 26-17-5-4, 2.33 goals-against, .925 save percentage
Based strictly on this season's numbers, Price has a slight edge over Luongo, which could make him the favourite for the starter's job with Team Canada.
Price has also managed to deliver wins for his Canadiens—something both Lack and Luongo have lamented this season. With goals so hard for the Canucks to come by, even their good performances have been coming up short in the quest to collect two points for the team.
To me, the black mark against Price is that he's been an inconsistent performer in big game situations. But couldn't the same be said about Luongo? He did hold steady to win the gold medal in 2010, and he did put up two shutouts in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final despite ultimately losing that series. So he's had his good moments. But there have been a few stinkers along the way, too.
I don't lay the Canucks' current losing streak at the feet of the goaltenders at all, but I feel like all the bad luck has eaten away at Luongo's confidence at a critical time. He seemed very positionally sound earlier in the season, but in recent games we've seen him missing his reads, scrambling for the puck, and doing that scary forward dive to try to smother pucks. Never a good sign when he's flopping around like that.
Luongo should be much better protected with Team Canada when he doesn't have Alex Edler putting an own-goal past him in virtually every game. Hopefully, solid play by the likes of Weber, Pietrangelo, Doughty and Duncan Keith will help him to find his form again.
(Reminder: we have to cheer for Drew Doughty and Duncan Keith. That's so awkward.)
I wish Roberto Luongo all the best. I hope he goes out in his first game—or his first game that matters—and silences the doubters. Myself included. I'd love to be wrong, but I don't feel like this timing is ultimately going to play out in Luo's favour.
What do you think:
Quick Hit:
One other quick note to follow up on my Utica Comets news from yesterday (and yes, they really are in the Western Conference):
Canuck prospect Nicklas Jensen scored a second-period natural hat trick on Sunday, but the Comets ultimately fell 5-4 in overtime to the Rockford Ice Hogs. After an ice-cold start to his season, Jensen now has 11 goals on the year—10 of which have come in 2014. Jensen turns 21 in March. Is he finally starting to find his game?
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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