"Roberto Luongo can win it all. He was just within a game, and he got there with one of the lowest-scoring offences in postseason history. To suggest he can't comes off as illogical.

But there's rarely logic anymore in the city's relationship with Luongo. The "blame Luongo" mob is overwhelming just about every time the Canucks lose.

Here we go again, and it's after a series in which the Canucks scored just eight goals. It's a remarkable feat, if you think about it. To get that close with the meekest seven-game goal-scoring total in Cup history. But Luongo is framed as the scapegoat and it's deja Lu. More concerning, it doesn't feel like this is ever going to change.

Instead, it feels both consuming and toxic. It's not healthy for the fans, and it can't be healthy for Luongo. He is regularly asked about things like the crowds in Rogers Arena who, it was reported, cheered when he was pulled from games in Boston. His teammates are regularly asked if they've lost faith in him. Can he go through this year after year, playoffs after playoffs in Vancouver? Can the fans? Can his teammates? Can anyone?

It'd be easy, inflammatory, and predictable now to say: "Trade Luongo."

But it's unfair and also an improbable scenario. Obviously, Luongo has the no-trade clause and his massive contract could make him immovable anyway. Plus, general manager Mike Gillis has the patience of sedimentary rock. He's not exactly knee-jerk material. But with Luongo, we're getting past knee-jerk.

The past three playoffs have run with the familiar theme. Luongo is big, imposing and effective when his team plays clean in front of him, limiting odd-man rushes and clearing rebounds. If the Canucks are defensively sound, he's great. But when things turn, when injuries mount, when breakdowns pile up, he's failing to make the acrobatic saves to turn the tide and change momentum. It repeated itself this year. The Canucks' defence was ravaged by injuries and Luongo was subsequently beat for 18 goals in the last five games. He was pulled in two of them, and should have been pulled in three."