sting101
Registered User
- Feb 8, 2012
- 16,048
- 15,072
Didnt he just come back from injury and miss training camp after helping them get to a Stanley Cup final? Seems a little harshMontour has been hot garbage this season and is looking like a one hit wonder. Ekblad… mid as ever.
Luongo not being likable is a new one...
All the memories I have of his teammates are about how beloved he was in the locker room. Bieksa has made such comments on HNIC. He was the first goaltender to ever be named captain in the NHL - that honor doesn't happen if you're not a well liked guy. The fact that the captaincy turned to be a failure isn't relevant to the point.
Luongo is a HoF goalie. There simply wasn't a more dominant goaltender over a 10 year span. It was him and Lundqvist. Dominating over such a period of time for a goaltender is an incredible feat. His season in 06-07 where he was snubbed the Vezina was one of the most remarkable performances a Canuck player has ever had - player or goalie. His accomplishments have him in a different stratosphere than Kirk McLean. Not Luongo's fault our organization has inducted too many players in to the ring of honor or a jersey retirement.
To me it's a lot of fans that can't get over his mediocre performances in our 2011 cup run. Luongo never really separated himself in those playoffs to be a Conn Smythe contender and our fans soured on him in the playoffs. Now he's in the same pedigree as McLean which is a joke.
Aaaaaanyways 3 in a row a win against the Panthers would be enormous!
Admittingly im not a Luongo guy so i'm going to take issue with some of this....
They made him captain to try and get him further invested into the team and city not because he was an elite character guy that stood above. He wasn't the first ever either (6 had this honor previously) but no goalie since '48 had been so it was a unique situation. The fact that it was a failure was absolutely relevant and tied to some pretty bad post game interviews and stand offish ("i made the first 3 saves") comments that eroded the arrangement.
No argument he was a HOF goalie and 06/07 was goaltending we had never seen before here.
Some of the lustre came off in 07/08 though when he stunk down the stretch enough to miss the playoffs and get home to his pregnant wife and it was obvious in more than a couple games he wasn't as invested in the team as much as getting back to Miami and Gina. Family first absolutely but there was a pattern with Luongo that often made fans like me come away feeling he was a prima donna and needed to be stroked.
It's not about him vs McLean on ice as both are in the ring and Luongo was better but Luongo was and is a Panther first and foremost. The sense of elite entitlement amongst the very best goalies when he had so many flat and pouty performances "not pumping my tires" in big moments with this lingering desire he never really wanted to be here outside of 2009 to when Schneider came in against LA in 2012 and the "trade me" threats surfaced which lead to "my contract sucks" and "your gonna want to hear this" after Tortz disrespected him made for some soap opera drama that just followed him around.
I dont think the Canuck logo ever meant that much to him vs his own personal accomplishments but he was a funny guy and well liked by his teammates especially as they had success and then as he matured and became humbled. Strombone and some of those Duthie TSN bits were hilarious. He's absolutely worthy of the ROH and should be celebrated im just not a huge fan nor think he was as great a leader and character as they are saying now that he is about to be celebrated.