Luongo Joins Panthers: Saga Officially Ended
Today has finally seen an end to one of the longest and frankly most tedious sagas in the hockey world. The Vancouver Canucks have officially traded Roberto Luongo to his former side the Florida Panthers in exchange for goalie Jakob Markstrom and centre Shawn Matthias!
Luongo has been a source of continuing speculation since the beginning of last season when he continually jostled for the number one spot with Cory Schneider. But when Schneider was traded to the New Jersey Devils earlier this season, it appeared the long time starter had at last reclaimed his place. However the emergence of young Swedish goalie Eddie Lack once again hindered his chances as the rookie has made a strong impression so far.
The tipping point seems to have been since Luongo returned from warming the bench at the Sochi Olympics for Canada, Lack has been placed in net for every since then by coach John Tortorella. Tensions escalated further when after the 4-2 loss to Ottawa Senators in the Tim Horton's Heritage Classic on Sunday at BC Place, Luongo was once again replaced by Lack which caused immense controversy.
Many Canucks fans may have been praying for this day, but now it has come it does pose certain questions about the goalkeeping future of our team- so how does Luongo being traded aid our cause? Firstly we have finally offloaded a disgruntled star who has long made clear his contempt for his situation at the Rogers Arena and his desire to leave the Vancouver organisation. His $64 Million will now be Florida's problem so on a financial front we should be eternally grateful.
However, in Bobby's absence, a bright light has now been shone on our lack of experience in net! Eddie Lack is on course to be the future of this organisation and I have full confidence he will come good- but in the back up department we are worryingly thin on quality and new goalie Markstrom has only made 43 NHL appearances over the last 4 years which doesn't always read well.
Now that he has officially left the province of British Columbia, I must confess I have mixed feeling about this move. I have never always been his biggest fan, but I still honour his great past efforts for my team, in particular his continually excellent performances that got the Canucks to the 2011 Stanley Cup final! His may have become error prone the last couple of seasons, Luongo will always been remembered by the fans at the Rogers Arena- for what reason will remain to be seen?
All the best Roberto- from both of us here!
Mike's thoughts: As glad as I am that Luongo-Gate is over, you have to feel for him, he's spent so much time on the bench, it's hard to understand why he still bothers to get dressed. Especially with Tortorella's twitter ban. Now Luongo will be sharing the ice with Tim Thomas. Which will be nice. They can reminisce about the 2011 Stanley Cup final.
Luongo has been a source of continuing speculation since the beginning of last season when he continually jostled for the number one spot with Cory Schneider. But when Schneider was traded to the New Jersey Devils earlier this season, it appeared the long time starter had at last reclaimed his place. However the emergence of young Swedish goalie Eddie Lack once again hindered his chances as the rookie has made a strong impression so far.
The tipping point seems to have been since Luongo returned from warming the bench at the Sochi Olympics for Canada, Lack has been placed in net for every since then by coach John Tortorella. Tensions escalated further when after the 4-2 loss to Ottawa Senators in the Tim Horton's Heritage Classic on Sunday at BC Place, Luongo was once again replaced by Lack which caused immense controversy.
Many Canucks fans may have been praying for this day, but now it has come it does pose certain questions about the goalkeeping future of our team- so how does Luongo being traded aid our cause? Firstly we have finally offloaded a disgruntled star who has long made clear his contempt for his situation at the Rogers Arena and his desire to leave the Vancouver organisation. His $64 Million will now be Florida's problem so on a financial front we should be eternally grateful.
However, in Bobby's absence, a bright light has now been shone on our lack of experience in net! Eddie Lack is on course to be the future of this organisation and I have full confidence he will come good- but in the back up department we are worryingly thin on quality and new goalie Markstrom has only made 43 NHL appearances over the last 4 years which doesn't always read well.
Now that he has officially left the province of British Columbia, I must confess I have mixed feeling about this move. I have never always been his biggest fan, but I still honour his great past efforts for my team, in particular his continually excellent performances that got the Canucks to the 2011 Stanley Cup final! His may have become error prone the last couple of seasons, Luongo will always been remembered by the fans at the Rogers Arena- for what reason will remain to be seen?
All the best Roberto- from both of us here!
Mike's thoughts: As glad as I am that Luongo-Gate is over, you have to feel for him, he's spent so much time on the bench, it's hard to understand why he still bothers to get dressed. Especially with Tortorella's twitter ban. Now Luongo will be sharing the ice with Tim Thomas. Which will be nice. They can reminisce about the 2011 Stanley Cup final.
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