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Vancouver Canucks: Roberto Luongo Gets Trolled, Canuck Olympic Updates

February 12, 2014, 4:04 PM ET [94 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
I'm probably playing right into this guy's hands by sharing this, but did you catch this piece yesterday on any of the PostMedia websites? Advice for Luongo, from Price’s former backup goalie.

Have a read. It's odd.

Nick Olynyk backed up Carey Prince in junior. According to hockeydb.com, he didn't even finish his career at the major junior level, spending an overage year in the BCHL and playing eight college games before hanging up his skates. So I wouldn't put a lot of stock in the idea that his career might have gone differently if not for Carey Price. Sounds like Olynyk just didn't have what it takes.

Now looking to make a career out of what he knows best, Nick has written a book called The Junior Hockey Truth: A Hockey Parent’s Guide to Scouting, Education and Your Son’s Career. My guess is that this article was written primarily as a way to try to generate buzz for his site.

Olynyk talked to Jeff Paterson on TEAM1040 last night, playing down the story as being "all in good fun." You can listen to that here:



I don't think he has generated quite the interest he'd hoped for. The story seems rather fixated on something that happened quite a long time ago: Price's gold medal at the 2007 World Juniors. There's been a lot of water under the bridge since then, and a lot of moments when Price has relinquished his net—the Habs' playoffs last year come to mind. The central idea that Price is a winner while Luongo is not doesn't really hold water when you look at both goalies' complete bodies of work.

Can't blame a guy for trying to get his business off the ground, but I don't think there's much more to this story.

Price is starting against Norway, but I hardly think a dominant performance against that opponent is going to lock him into the starter's spot for the rest of the tournament.

My gut says this goaltending issue will be front-and-centre throughout the Olympics for Team Canada.

Quick Hits:

- I didn't get to watch as I was on figure skating detail, but it was a good day for the Canucks to start off the Olympics. I'm not going to get too excited about Sweden's 4-2 win over the Czech Republic: that Czech team is a mess. I feel bad for Jaromir Jagr—he turns 42 on Saturday and is still being forced to carry the load.

Daniel Sedin had one assist in Sweden's 4-2 win, on the fourth goal which was a power-play marker for Erik Karlsson. It looks like he's playing the second unit. Daniel played 18:38— top-line minutes in the Swedish system, which would be an easy night under Torts. He did finish minus-one.

Raphael Diaz played 19:57, with three shots on goal, while Yannick Weber played 15:59 with four shots on goal as the Swiss edged the Latvians 1-0 on Wednesday. They'll need to find some offense if they hope to take advantage of Jonas Hiller's goaltending.

- Glad I was able to entertain a bit yesterday with the notion of an "Edler-on-Edler" kneeing incident. I'd agree, rather than being a typo, it doesn't seem so implausible with the kind of season Edler's having.

Interesting to note that actual victim Eric Staal has missed just three games this season, with a lower-body injury suffered in January, while Elder was out for a full month with a knee problem that popped up out of nowhere. Maybe he really did hurt himself more than he hurt Staal last May?

- As you can probably imagine, my Olympic coverage is messing with my sleep schedule pretty dramatically. Tonight I'm covering short and long-track speedskating overnight, then I'll be liveblogging the Canada/Norway game on Thursday at 9 a.m. PT, so come on over to Bleacher Report and join me for that if you're around. I'll post the link to the blog on my Twitter just before gametime:




If you'd like to see how my tournament predictions stack up against the rest of my B/R colleagues, here's that link.
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