Posts Tagged Roberto Luongo
Cory Schneider Still with the Canucks … Winnipeg Mayor Shoots Down Team … Kaberle, Staying or Going
Posted by Mark in NHL News, NHL Rumors on March 6th, 2010
It’s Time To Find Out About The “Monster”
Posted by Derek in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Opinion on January 26th, 2010
I’m not the first to say this but I would like to add my voice to the gathering masses that just want the Toronto Maple Leafs to let Jonas Gustavsson play for the remainder of the season.
It’s time to find out exactly what they have in “The Monster”, and decide if the flashes of greatness (or the flashes of mediocrity) are the real stick with which to measure the 25 year old NHL rookie. There have been moments when Gustavsson looked like he was on the brink of breaking out as a true #1 NHL goaltender, only to watch him allow a weak goal or over-read a play and end up committed to a shot while the opposing player passes for an easy tap in goal.
Personally, I prefer an aggressive goaltender like Gustavsson, who comes out to challenge a shooter. In my opinion this was the biggest problem for Vesa Toskala, sitting on the goal line and giving away the upper half of the net. It’s easier to make an aggressive player dial it back a bit then it is to make a passive one more aggressive, as we’ve seen with Toskala. Let’s face it, if we know what Toskala needed to do to be successful, so did Vesa but he was unable to change his game.
Gustavsson has had decent numbers on an under-achieving team but it really is time to see what he can do with a stretch of consecutive games to get comfortable. If it turns out he isn’t capable it would be far better to figure that out now, he will be a RFA after this season and will be looking for more then the $910 Thousand he signed for this year as an introductory contract.
His 2.94 GAA and .902 Save% is passable considering the supporting cast but it’s important to remember that a young goaltender can improve vastly playing on a bottom-feeder team like the Leafs, where he will see a lot of rubber every night. If you consider Roberto Luongo’s time in Florida he faced almost 2500 shot’s in 2003/04 and again in 2005/06 (consecutive season considering the lockout). This is when Luongo emerged as a premier NHL goaltender. I’m not saying that “The Monster” is the next Luongo, but it’s imperative for Brian Burke to know what he needs to do in net going into next season.
It’s time to throw Jonas in the pool and see if he’ll swim.
Around the Boards: Sedin and Kovalchuk set backs, S. Niedermayer on the move that the Deadline?
Posted by Mark in NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on November 12th, 2009
- Matthew Sekerer of the Globe and Mail: Daniel Sedin was hoping to return to the Canucks on Tuesday or tonight, but a set back to his broken foot has pushed back the expected return day till next week at the earliest. In better Canucks news, Roberto Luongo will be starting tonight against the Red Wings.
- Tim Sassone of the Daily Herald: Despite the Blackhawks`, David Bolland, expected to be out a couple months, the Hawks won`t put him on LTIR. GM Bowman won`t use the LTIR to clear cap space “because that would be money he’d have to shed when Bolland returns in February or March.“ They also don`t plan on trading for a replacement, as they are close to the cap.
- Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Ilya Kovalchuk won`t be returning to the Thrashers lineup tonight as originally hoped. His injured foot became sore while warming up for practice.
- Eric Stevens of the OC Register: JS Giguere wants to be a number 1 goalie, and wants it to be in Anaheim. His comments about that he`d rather retire than be a back-up was suppose to be taken as sarcastic. “”I don’t regret what I said but it didn’t come out exactly how I wanted,” Giguere said. “I just wanted to say I’m not done. I want to compete. I don’t want to be written off. I’m still here and I wanted to battle and have fun.”"
- Rich Chere of the Star-Ledger: If the Ducks are out of playoff contention around trade deadline time, Scott Niedermayer could see himself being dealt, and maybe to the Devils. “I think it’s a possibility,” Niedermayer said of being traded by the Ducks at some point this season. “Last year we were kind of in a situation where we were teetering and there was some talk and rumors. You start to think about it.
- Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News: The Stars are looking for a right-handed Right Winger and/or a Defenceman, the underachieving Fabian Brunnstrom could be used as trade bait.
Around the Boards: Ward, Williams, D. Sedin, Luongo and Malkin
Posted by Mark in NHL Injuries, NHL News on November 8th, 2009
Hockey Night in Canada’s Hotstove: GMs to look at new helmet ideas and how to stop headshots.
All these injuries is getting ridiculous.
Finally some good news on the injury front
Opening Night Observations
Brian Burke’s makeover was in full effect right off the start with Colton Orr and Jay Rosehill getting into 1st period fights. Mike Komisarek also got into fight, but took 5 minor penalties, 2 of which resulted in a Montreal powerplay goal. Francois Beauchemin looked a little shaky.
From the book of ‘Are You Kidding Me”, my fantasy hockey team just took a hit as the RDS is reporting that my #1 defensemen, Andre Markov, will be out 3-4 months with a torn tendon in his knee. He suffered the injury in the 3rd period after colliding with Carey Price. It was Price’s revenge on me for dropping him before the “Aki Bergala’s” won the Fantasy Hockey Championship last season.
Dany Heatley had an unforgettable San Jose Sharks debut, he was a -3 in 21 minutes of play. His lazy coasting in the defensive end led to one goal. He also fanned on a pass in the slot with a wide open net.
Nabokov and Luongo got off to shaky starts. Nabokov allowed 5 goals on 20 shots. Luongo allowed 4 goals on 22 shots. On the other side of things, Carey Price made 43 saves in a 4-3 OT victory, and Kiprusoff turned aside 39 shots.
Luongo Locked up for 12 years
So it looks like Roberto Luongo might eventually join Marion Hossa and Chris Pronger in having their contracts investigated by the NHL. The 30 year old Luongo has just inked a 12 year contract extension worth $64 milllion. The deal won’t kick in until next year, and will go through 2021-22.
The cap hit for the Canucks will only be for $5.33 million. But the interesting question for this deal will be, what are the yearly salaries? Will it be 7 or 8 years at $7+ million, and then a substantial decrease after that. One of those ‘wink-wink-nudge-nudge’ I’d like to retire in 8 years, so we can toss the remaining 4 years of the contract out the window.
Canucks fans must be estactic as one of the best goalies in the league will be locked up long term, and at a cap friendly number.
Canucks Close to Locking Up Key Piece
Posted by Mark in NHL News, NHL Rumors on September 1st, 2009
After winning the Northeast division with 100 points, the Vancouver Canucks lost in the Conference Semifinals to the Chicago Blackhawks. Fans were upset. But after the lose sunk in, uncertainty and nervousness blanketed the organization. Their 2 star forwards, the Sedin’s, may walk for nothing, signing as unrestricted free agents elsewhere. Their all-world goalie, Roberto Luongo, could be traded as his contract expired after the 2009-10 season.
Fast-forward a few moments. The uneasiness is gone, and optimism of a very successful is growing by the day. The Sedin twins were locked up to long term deals, Mikael Samuelsson was signed to put the puck in the net, Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich were brought in through trade to add depth and stability to the point, and there are know reports that Luongo is close to signing a contract extension. Canucks fans, breathe easy.
But in this NHL when a star play signs a new contract, that news tends to play second fiddle to “what is the cap hit”. This my friends is unknown at the moment.
Canucks add Blue line Depth
Posted by Derek in NHL Free Agents, NHL News, NHL Trades on August 28th, 2009
“The Vancouver Canucks have added a lot of depth to their blueline in a short period of time. The team has acquired defencemen Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for defenceman Daniel Rahimi and forward Patrick White. Vancouver also announced on Friday that they have inked veteran defenceman Mathieu Schneider to a contract.(Source-TSN)
With the loss of Mattias Ohlund to Tampa Bay via free agency this off-season, the acquisition of some veteran blue liners should help the Vancouver Canucks chances when trying to re-sign all star goaltender Roberto Luongo to a contract extension. Luongo will be an UFA heading into next summer.
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