OK, so I had to throw a dig at Roberto in the title for his unfortunate comments in the Cup Finals, but in all seriousness I want to give him some praise in a hockey market that is hard on its goaltenders. I really don't know why Roberto comes out of the gates slow in October but he sure has a way of making us forget about his slow starts by some point in December. Two months into the season Roberto's stats were in the bottom half of NHL goaltenders. His goals against average were over 3.0 and his save percentage well below .900. People wanted his head on a platter and trade rumors / desires were rampant. Much of the media cab be wankers. Yeah, I questioned him too. He was struggling to find his game. He did not look sharp. He looked unnatural between the pipes.

Today, Luongo is

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Controversy: A dispute, especially a public one, between sides holding opposing views.

The only goaltending controversy with the Vancouver Canucks is with the fans of the team. It has been going on for a long time and isn't about to go away any time soon. Not in this critical hockey-mad market. There is no hate for Cory Schneider. That is generally reserved for Roberto Luongo. And with Schneider winning 4 straight games and being on a massive hot streak, the gasoline has been thrown on the fire, again. I started reading some comments on Twitter tonight and had to stop before I pulled out a knife and scalped myself. By the way, Lou had won 3 of his last 4 starts before his upper body injury. The team defence had not even gotten it's collective act together like they have now on their current winning streak.

Look,

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If there were two words I could have stricken from the vernacular around here, a phrase that would become absolutely verboten, it would be 'goalie controversy'.  It's just jaw-droppingly stupid to see things like that phrase being the first thing out of the Hockeycentral panel's collective mouths last night.  Between them and the usual rantings on Twitter, it's like no one seems to remember the season before.  Or before that.  Or every single season that Roberto Luongo has been with the Vancouver Canucks.  This isn't so much a defense of Luongo as it is a plea for some actual thought to be used before a good portion of you, Canucks fans and media alike, open your mouths or begin to type.

Roberto Luongo did not play well last night.  The Vancouver Canucks did not play well last night.  And much like they do every season, they've stumbled out of the gate.  And yet it seems that even more than  ever before, this is setting off alarm bells for some.  The so-called goalie controversy, because Luongo has lost 1 in regulation and 1 in shootout as opposed to the 1 win for Cory Schneider.  This is seen as a reason that the Canucks should suddenly explore trading Luongo, or at the very least giving his number one spot to Schneider.  Lunacy.  Absolute lunacy.

There is a portion of the fanbase who simply refuse to acknowledge that Roberto Luongo is a world class goaltender, let alone a good one.  They say that regular season accomplishments mean nothing, while at the same time

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Roberto Luongo, despite all the hate out there, won a lot of games for his mates in the regular season and the playoffs, and I am now going to honor that by presenting to you the top 10 Lou saves of the 2010-11 regular season while being clad in my Luongo stick in rink jersey. Enjoy, and bite me, haters, heheh:

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If it's anything short of the Stanley Cup (and it always is) Vancouver's goaltending will be called into question. I don't know how many knives will be pointed at Roberto Luongo this summer, but it's not like we haven't seen him called into question before. Ready for some memory lane?

Rewind the tape to Game Five of the Canucks/Ducks in 2007: Rob Niedermayer goes in with a high hit, Luongo is busy trying to get the refs attention and misses the GWG, Ducks win and move on. Luongo said then:

Obviously I made a mistake there and it cost us the game. Right now, everything is surreal. Obviously, I'm disappointed because our season is over. I didn't feel like I deserved the season to be over. I wanted to keep going. I think it's going to hit harder when I wake up in the next day or two and I have nothing to do.

However 2007 were the glory days. Luongo played fantastic that first season and definitely against Turco and Dallas in the first round. We loved his drive. He said all the right things. With such a terrible string of goaltenders before him anyway (Sorry Alex Auld) we could give the guy a pass.

In 2008 Vancouver missed the playoffs for several reasons, but all eyes were back on Luongo. Remember this was the year he raised some eyebrows by skipping the All Star Game, flew back to Florida before a key game against the Wild, fought off "he wants to go back East" rumors and admitted fatigue. Our ever brilliant analysis at the time:

Between March 21 and April 3, 2008, Lui's numbers sunk to Cloutier-esque proportions: 1 win, 6 losses, 3.67 GAA, .874 Save %. Granted they mailed in their final performance against Calgary, but when asked to assess his 3 goals on 8 shot performance, he said "I tried to bring it, but obviously I didn't have anything left in the tank. I don't care, honestly. The season ended Thursday. It doesn't matter whether I started or not, all right?"

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I received an email from a Sports Illustrated rep pointing me out to a story on Roberto Luongo that is in the new Sports Illustrated (on stands now, or online here). Writer Brian Cazeneuve properly portrays Luongo as a human and a professional in a starving and many times unfair sports-mad Canucks market in a piece called The Good, The Bad And Roberto Luongo. Here is an excerpt:

It's easy to take Luongo for granted. In amassing a league-high 117 points, Vancouver won the first Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history and led the league in both goals (262) and goals-against (185). Given the Canucks’ powerhouse roster—which includes forward Henrik Sedin, last season’s winner of the Hart Trophy as league MVP; his twin brother and linemate, Daniel, a finalist for this year’s award; emerging star Ryan Kesler; and a steady defense that runs six deep—Luongo’s successes are often overlooked. "What the hell else does he have to do?" asks Canucks winger Alex Burrows. "I know: Win a Stanley Cup. When we win, people think the puck stops itself. No, it’s Roberto. I think he’s the best goalie in the world."

Finally, a balanced and fair look at Roberto Luongo's play over his tenure as a Canuck, especially the last few seasons. There are some facts about Lou in there that I was unaware of in regards to some events in the Chicago series, Lou's puck-handling skills and more. I believe this is the best Luongo piece I have ever read. And no, they are not paying me to say that, that I can promise you. Well done, Mr. Cazeneuve. And praise be to Lou!

I had a conversation this morning with Bart Byl regarding our goalie tandem, which started with an open-ended question: would the Canucks pull Roberto Luongo in favor of Cory Schneider in the playoffs if Luongo got into trouble?

This is different from asking should the Canucks pull Lui if he gets in trouble. I'd like to think most fans (and management) are on the same page there. They should put the Sedins in Manitoba, Kesler in the press box and Rome as the first line center if that makes them a better team.

However Gillis has a lot riding on Luongo. Dating back to when Gillis started he stressed the importance that he and his netminder were on the same page. He's the one who slapped the C on that lid and then had to wrangle it off. Then of course there's that hefty contract (that the NHL brass has no problem with!). Gillis has gone to bat for Luongo through thick and thin; they're married to each other.

Vigneault is a different matter. His job is to ice the most competitive mix capable of winning. So far this season anyway, Schneider has shown he's a cut above Sabourin, Sanford, LaBarbera and Raycroft. From a simple asset management perspective, how could you not at least float the idea of a goalie switch if Luongo struggles (think Boston last year with Thomas/Rask)? Besides, the Canucks may only have this strong (and financially viable) tandem for a little while longer.

As luck would have it ESPN's daily debate (I had no idea there was such a thing) between LeBrun and Burnside touched on the same topic:

LeBrun: ...The Canucks haven't been shy to use Schneider in big games this season, and I think that gives them confidence that he could pull it off come playoff time should he have to start.

Burnside: ...I want some of what you're having if you think the Canucks will ever decide Schneider is a better option at any point in the playoffs this spring. Take this to the bank: If Schneider appears for anything other than mop-up duty in the postseason, the Canucks are cooked...

...and as you know, Mr. Burnside is never ever wrong. Ever.

It poses an interesting question. Say it's the second round (again!), we're up against Chicago (again!) and the Canucks drop two straight to the Hawks with Luongo coughing up five goals per game. No one's happy, he looks overwhelmed. Do you make the switch? At what point would you feel comfortable pushing Luongo aside or is that - as Burnside suggests - not an option at all, instead hoping he can pull himself together at the risk of flushing away another post season while a viable alternative sat on the bench watching?

Or, as Byl concluded, let's hope we don't have this discussion at all.

Well, not according to some intriguing stats that Brad Ziemer from the Vancouver Sun points out:

In the games he has played following the four starts given to backup Cory Schneider, Roberto Luongo's numbers aren't good. His goal-against average in those four games is 4.75 and his save percentage is .850.

A particularly shaky outing Oct. 19 in Minnesota, when Luongo was yanked after giving up six goals on 18 shots in two periods, skews those numbers a bit. But the fact remains Luongo has surrendered three or more goals in all of those four starts.

As much as the team's play in front of him could have been better on occasion, Lou has not been sharp either. Not sharp enough. Not consistently. Just something to keep an eye on, because, you know, we don't scrutinize Luongo enough. Added: To throw a small dart at Ziemer, the Canucks are still 2-2 in those games, and Luongo has hardly been to blame in especially one of those 4 games in particular: the 4-3 win over the Avalanche. Wow. The Avs had 39 shots that game. Lou was gold.