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Roberto Luongo News & Rumors

Tough questions abound about Canucks' goaltending
February 10
Vancouver Province
 columnist Ed Willies
"The decision over the future of the Vancouver Canucks' goaltending position might be the most important of general manager Mike Gillis's administration but, in analyzing things as they stand, there is one number that stands out for Roberto Luongo. It is not the 10 years he has left on his contract. It's not the $5.333 million US annual cap hit he represents. It's not even the number of Stanley Cups he's won. No, those are all relevant in the great Vancouver goaltending debate but the most important number connected to Luongo is this: 21,743. And that isn't the number of times Canucks' fans have called the open-mouth shows saying: "We can't win with this guy.''"
Luongo shows his good, bad and lucky sides in game-winning performance
February 8
Vancouver Province
 
"Henrik Sedin was getting treatment post-game for his ankle after he took a slapshot off it in the first period. He was unavailable for an update. But before the game, he said the Canucks were looking to win one without needing their goalie to stand on his head. He got his wish. Roberto Luongo did about everything but in a save that kept the Canucks afloat. It was Tuesday's signature wow moment, and during it, Luongo was ­riveting."
Vigneault coy about which goalie will get the big start in Boston
January 6
Vancouver Province
 
"Cory Schneider more than just mentioned the magnitude of the moment and what it would mean for the former Boston College standout to return home and face the Bruins on Saturday afternoon. "Last year was obviously a different circumstance being a Stanley Cup final, but this is going to be the first regular-season game I've played back there," said Schneider. "At lot of people back home are watching and supporting me from afar and to be able to come home and share that and see them and experience it with them is a joy for me.""
Canucks, Luongo shut out Wild
January 5
Vancouver Sun
 
"Roberto Luongo used his 700th game to record his 57th career shutout Wednesday night and help move the Vancouver Canucks to the top of the National Hockey League standings. For the second time in just over two weeks, Luongo stopped everything the Minnesota Wild fired his way as he backstopped the Canucks to a 3-0 win at Rogers Arena. The win, which improved the Canucks' record to 25-13-3, gives Vancouver 53 points. That's one more than the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks, who both have multiple games in hand. So the Canucks might want to enjoy the view from the top while they can."
Canucks' Luongo comfortable with changes
December 28
Vancouver Sun
 
"We're guessing it has been a while since Roberto Luongo slept in a tent, partly because it's hard for him to play online poker in the middle of a forest even if the Vancouver Canuck goaltender could fit his couch, television and young family inside a nylon dome. But Luongo explained Tuesday that a goalie facing a National Hockey League shooter is sometimes like a camper facing a bear. The objective is to make yourself appear as large as possible so the bear doesn't get the wrong idea and think he can eat you or easily pick corners."
Michael Buble practises with Vancouver Canucks, rings one off Luongo's post
December 21
Vancouver Province
 
"Michael Buble didn't look much like an NHL player, but he sure sounded like one on Tuesday. When the Canadian crooner was asked what move he would execute if presented with another shootout opportunity against Roberto Luongo -- he actually rang a shot off the post in a special practice appearance -- the super fan of the Vancouver Canucks didn't hesitate. "I would have faked a shot and gone backhand and tried to go upstairs," chuckled Buble, a hockey fanatic who is also part-owner of the WHL Vancouver Giants. "He's seven feet tall and it's actually amazing when he goes down how big he is. You get a sense of how it must be when you come in on that guy in a game. He looked huge and it's"
Luongo a brick wall with Wild shutout
December 20
Vancouver Province
 
"This time there was no late goal to bust the goose egg. The cries were "Looooo, "not "boooo," although there must be many fans at Rogers Arena who switch back and forth, depending on how their goalie has played that night. There was no early softie. There was just Roberto Luongo making 33 saves on 33 Minnesota shots, 13 of those saves coming before the Canucks got on the scoreboard, which is important because you don't want to fall behind the Northwest Division-leading Wild unless your idea of fun is to chip and chase all night. "That's a different team when they have the lead," said Alex Burrows, who moved one behind Daniel Sedin with his 12th goal of the season. "Lu gave us that chance"
First shutout of season 'a little bonus': Luongo
December 20
Vancouver Province
 
"This time there was no late goal to bust the goose egg. The cries were "Looooo, "not "boooo," although there must be many fans at Rogers Arena who switch back and forth, depending on how their goalie has played that night. There was no early softie. There was just Roberto Luongo making 33 saves on 33 Minnesota shots, 13 of those saves coming before the Canucks got on the scoreboard, which is important because you don't want to fall behind the Northwest Division-leading Wild unless your idea of fun is to chip and chase all night."
Shootout sobers Canucks' Luongo after stellar game
December 14
Vancouver Province
 
"If Jannik Hansen is right, and the shootout is nothing more than a coin flip, Roberto Luongo is one unlucky goalie. Luongo may have stolen the Canucks a point Tuesday, but his vintage night was sullied by another shootout loss, and this time he faced the indignity of getting beat by all three Columbus shooters, including defenceman James Wisniewski, who walked him. Luongo wasn't exactly pleased after making 29 saves in the game but none in the shootout. "They can go either way, but I got to make a save," he said. "The first couple, I was deep and they went roof. The third one I was too far out and [Wisniewski] went around me.""
Luongo to start against Senators; Higgins hopes to play
December 10
Vancouver Sun
 
"Roberto Luongo will start in goal and winger Chris Higgins hopes to play when the Vancouver Canucks meet the Ottawa Senators in the nation's capital on Saturday night. Higgins, who has missed the last two games with a mysterious foot infection, practised this afternoon at the Ottawa Civic Center and will test his foot again at Saturday morning's game-day skate before deciding if he can play. "It was a good first step, we'll see how it feels tomorrow," Higgins said. "That's really all I can say about it right now. It felt pretty good to get back on the ice, though, after a couple of days and it felt better than I thought it would feel. "It's the first time I have put my foot in a boot so I"
Report: Canucks shopping goalie Luongo
December 5
CSN Washington
 
"On the same day a story was released about Tomas Vokoun admitting some responsibility for the Capitals up-and-down season, one of the NHL's most well-known goalies has reportedly been made available by trade. According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, and via NBCSports.com, Vancouver Canucks' goaltender Roberto Luongo could be attainable if the price is right. "The talk among league executives is the Canucks have dangled [Roberto] Luongo in trade circles, but haven't been able to find anybody interested in his $5.3-million cap hit and contract that runs through the 2021-22 season""
Canucks, Luongo roll over Flames
December 5
Vancouver Sun
 
"Roberto Luongo stopped everything in front of him. Now he just has to handle those shots from behind the red line. The only goal that beat him was not a pretty one, but Luongo's solid play was one of several positives the Vancouver Canucks could take out of Sunday night's convincing 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena. Making his first start in three weeks, Luongo held the Canucks in the game early and then sat back and pretty much watched most of the second and third periods as Vancouver skated to its sixth win in its last seven games. The previous five had come with Cory Schneider in goal and Luongo was under considerable pressure to perform well. He certainly did that early"
Schneider, Luongo taking it one game at a time . . . really
December 1
Vancouver Sun
 
"It is a story that's not going away no matter how much Roberto Luongo wishes it would. Backup Cory Schneider makes his seventh straight National Hockey League start Thursday night for the Vancouver Canucks. Coach Alain Vigneault has not yet reached the point where concern over Luongo's inactivity trumps Schneider's activity. But he will. Vigneault noted that there was a 14-6 split in his goalies' workload during last season's historic 17-1-2 run that carried the Canucks to the top of the National Hockey League."
Canucks' Schneider to get sixth straight start, but Luongo 'is our No. 1 goaltender'
November 29
Vancouver Sun
 
"Coach Alain Vigneault insists Roberto Luongo remains his No. 1 goalie, but Cory Schneider will make his sixth straight start when the Vancouver Canucks meet the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night at Rogers Arena (7 p.m., Sportsnet Pacific, Team 1040). "Right now the way Cory is playing, he's playing real well, and I have decided to go with him tomorrow," Vigneault said after today's practice. But Vigneault quickly added that Luongo's status as the team's top goalie has not changed. "Obviously, Roberto is our No. 1 goaltender and before he got hurt he was starting to find his game," Vigneault said. "We put Cory in, he wasn't very good against Chicago, but after that he was the best"
Luongo most expensive bench warmer as Schneider starts Tuesday
November 29
Vancouver Province
 
"If the Canucks are in the middle of a goalie controversy, head coach Alain Vigneault isn't saying. He was willing to say his team needs wins and because of it Cory Schneider will start his sixth game in row Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, making Roberto Luongo one of hockey's most expensive bench warmers. Is that controversial? Maybe. It's definitely uncharted territory. "Obviously, Roberto is our No. 1 goaltender," Vigneault said. Obvious to whom? What's obvious is the Canucks have two very good, maybe great, goalies to choose from and right now Schneider is playing better. He was named the NHL's second star of the week today and has won four in a row, giving up just three"
Canucks' Cory Schneider gets third straight start vs. Avalanche
November 23
Vancouver Sun
 
"Roberto Luongo says his mystery ailment is better and he's again ready to play but, unless Cory Schneider face-plants in Denver, Luongo will watch tonight's Vancouver Canuck-Colorado Avalance clash wearing a ball cap. Schneider is coming off a superb 28-save performance against the Ottawa Senators and head coach Alain Vigneault obviously doesn't want to switch horses with his team stumbling around the NHL's nether regions. Vigneault will become the winningest coach in Canuck history with his next victory – he's currently tied with Marc Crawford at 246 – and he didn't win all those games by being a dunce."
Luongo set to return in Colorado after mystery injury
November 22
Vancouver Province
 
"Maybe you saw the Dos Equis spoof of Roberto Luongo during the playoffs, a takeoff on the Mexican beer company's "most interesting man in the world." Now, apparently, Luongo fancies himself as an international man of mystery. Ever since he hurt something against the Islanders on Nov. 13 and almost pulled himself from the game, it's been hush-hush about what exactly was injured. Probably a cartilage somewhere, but the club and the goalie will only describe it as a the ol' upper-body owie. "It's a secret, man," Luongo said on Monday, his first day back practising with his teammates."
Canucks' Andrew Ebbett out for 10 games, Roberto Luongo for far less
November 17
Vancouver Sun
 
"How serious is Andrew Ebbett's broken foot? Ten games. How serious is Roberto Luongo's mystery injury? Not very. The Canucks' recall of minor-league goalie Eddie Lack to back up tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks (7 p.m., Sportsnet Pacific, Team 1040) led Vancouver to ease its salary-cap crunch by placing Ebbett on long-term injured reserve retroactive to his injury last Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings. The Canucks indicated the depth forward might miss only a couple of weeks, but the LTIR designation means Ebbett is ineligible to play for 10 games — or until the Canucks face the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 6."
Canucks' Roberto Luongo hurt, Cory Schneider gets start vs. Blackhawks
November 16
Vancouver Sun
 
"At about the same time NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan was reassuring the league's general managers in Toronto that it's not going to be open season on goaltenders, Vancouver Canucks coach Alain Vigneault was giving every indication he thinks it is. Vigneault used the league's tepid response to Boston forward Milan Lucic's open-ice hit on Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller as his reason for not being entirely forthcoming about the current injury to Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo. Luongo did not practise for the second straight day Tuesday and Vigneault said Cory Schneider will start Wednesday when the Canucks meet the Chicago Blackhawks at Rogers Arena (7 p.m., Sportsnet Pacific, Team 1040)."
Canucks' Luongo out with upper-body injury
November 15
NHL.com
 
"Roberto Luongo won't get to renew his rivalry with the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday. Vancouver's No. 1 goalie won't play because of what Canucks coach Alain Vigneault labeled an "upper-body injury." Luongo, who missed practice Monday and Tuesday, was listed as day-to-day, leaving backup Cory Schneider to face the Blackhawks. "It's nothing serious," Vigneault said of Luongo. Luongo, who was expected to make his sixth straight start, including a 38-save, 6-2 win in Chicago on Nov. 6, hasn't been on the ice since stopping 23 shots in Sunday's 4-1 victory against the New York Islanders. He appeared to be in discomfort at one point during the third period, and Schneider even began to loosen"
Luongo hot and bothered, but hang in, it's early
October 28
Vancouver Province
 
"When Roberto Luongo smashed his stick in disdain after getting the hook Tuesday in Edmonton, it was another rallying point for his detractors to suggest the struggling starting goaltender was unravelling like a ball of string. Darren Pang saw something else in the reaction after Luongo allowed three goals on 14 shots against the Oilers. "I liked that — I loved it," said the former NHL goaltender and well-respected commentator for a host of TV networks and the St. Louis Blues. "If he were to have just meekly gone to the bench and took off his mask and put on a ball cap and sat in the corner, I would have been disturbed. I was thoroughly waiting for a reaction and that's the reaction I was"
Can coach give Luongo his mojo back?
October 28
Vancouver Province
 columnist Tony Gallagher
"They have their own goalie storm with the St. Louis Blues as Jaroslav Halak tries to play the role of Roberto Luongo - as much as anyone can in an American city. Not surprisingly this one has a Vancouver connection now that Rollie Melanson is the goaltender coach with the Canucks, because ever since Halak left Montreal where Melanson was for 11 years, he's not been quite the same goalie. The Slovak was so keen to see his old coach, the guy he's been working with off and on since he was 17 years old, that he missed the Blues bus back to the hotel after Wednesday's pre-game skate, telling them to go without him."
Canucks terrible in front of Schneider or Luongo
October 27
Vancouver Province
 
"Heading into Wednesday night's game with the St. Louis Blues, there were any number of reasons to believe the Vancouver Canucks were about to shake off their early season malaise. For starters, they'd mailed it in the night before in Edmonton and there should have been some guilty consciences in their locker room. David Booth, the much-ballyhooed acquisition from Florida, was also making his home-ice debut. And, most importantly, the St. Louis Blues had been in town for a couple of days and were vulnerable to what social anthropologists have come to term the Roxy Effect."
Three in five gets Luongo pulled as Oilers smear Canucks 3-2
October 26
Vancouver Province
 
"It was game that's sure to pump the tires of the Roberto Luongo detractors, but the rest of us should just chill out. Yes, Luongo was yanked after he gave up three goals in a 5:02 span of the second period to blow open an eventual 3-2 loss to the Oilers, but he'll have to get in line to take the blame. Certainly, it was an ugly hand-off behind the net on the 2-0 goal by Shawn Horcoff, but the others were just poor execution by a parade of Canucks players in their own zone."
Luongo pulled as Canucks fall to Oilers
October 26
Vancouver Sun
 
"Maybe the Vancouver Canucks should make another trade. We're not suggesting Roberto Luongo for Vincent Lecavalier or anything stupid like that, but something. Anything. If for no other reason than to take some of the heat off their embattled goaltender. After a few days basking in relative anonymity, thanks in large part to the acquisition of David Booth from the Florida Panthers this past weekend, the Canucks' $63-million goalie will undoubtedly be back in the public spotlight — if not the editorial pages of the city's tabloid newspaper — after giving up three goals in a span of 4:02 early in the second period of Vancouver's 3-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place on Tuesday."
Luongo gets reprieve with Canucks win – for at least a night
October 21
Vancouver Province
 
"On the seventh game, Vancouver's billowing goalie controversy was put to rest. At least it was on the ice. At least it was for one night. Roberto Luongo was quietly solid Thursday. The Nashville Predators were just quiet. The Canucks got four first-period goals and their most complete defensive performance of the season. Luongo got what he needed most, and that was some room to breathe. "I was relaxed and that's a good thing," Luongo said. "Sometimes when you're over aggressive, things can go against you. You have to have that good balance of aggressiveness mixed with being laid back. You can make some good reads off of that.""
Luongo reacts to boos by rolling up his sleeves
October 20
Vancouver Sun
 
"He left the ice exhausted (BOOOOO!) and walked down the hall to the dressing room (BOOOOO!) where Roberto Luongo slumped joylessly into his stall (BOOOOO!) and slowly removed his goaltending equipment (BOOOOO!) while reporters surveyed him like undertakers. So, Roberto, how does it feel to get booed? "The good thing is it has happened so many times, I've gotten used to it," Luongo said Wednesday on yet another of those mornings after the night before. "It really doesn't affect me anymore. A fan pays for their ticket and comes to the game and they have a right to boo if they want to.""
Canucks' Luongo use to taking the heat from fans
October 20
Vancouver Province
 
"You are 32 years old and coming off the greatest year of your life. You love the city you live in. You love your team, and the teammates you play with. So much so, you have committed the rest of your career to them. You just pulled off a historic season. You were one win away from a championship, the closest your team has ever been to winning it all. You were a Vezina finalist in a season which included an extraordinary accomplishment. It may, in fact, have been your greatest feat. You were the starting goalie for a run-and-gun, offensively focused team which gave up the fewest goals in the NHL. You are Roberto Luongo. And you are booed, unforgivingly."
'I would have liked to make a big save,' Luongo says as Canucks fall to Philly
October 13
Vancouver Province
 
"Roberto Luongo is getting better with accountability, but not October. Two games in, he's let his team down more often than he's made big saves. On Wednesday, his teammates tried to keep him afloat, worming their way back from a 4-2 deficit. But two shifts after the game was finally tied at four, Luongo couldn't get the angle or his glove on an Andrej Meszaros wrist shot from the top of the circle. "It was a tough one to give up," Luongo said. "We battled back to tie it up and they scored one right away. He made a good shot, I guess. I was out challenging, and he beat me over the glove. "I would have liked to make a big save there.""
Looks like a long month for Luongo
October 7
Vancouver Province
 
"If you've already started dissecting every soft goal Roberto Luongo surrenders - and judging by the reaction of fans, some have - it's going to be a long year. It already promises to be a long month. October historically is for Luongo. He figures he's had one "really good one" in his career. Thursday's start did not suggest this will be the second. Luongo was always at risk of being most affected by the decision to truncate preseason for Vancouver's veterans. Typically, he plays three to four preseason games. This year, he played two."
Sixth sense evolves Canucks's Luongo for Season six
October 6
Vancouver Province
 
"At this point, you walk into the Canucks dressing room and you half expect Roberto Luongo to be on a couch, not a locker stall. You've surely heard it all by now. He's got problems and they're not all related to his five hole. He's too sensitive, emotional, and fragile. He's said to be prone to swings in play and mood. It's been suggested he's at risk of being buried by his critics from the sheer pressure of it all. You listen to people long enough and then walk into the dressing room and you half expect Luongo to be dreading another season in Vancouver where his relationship with the fans is sometimes toxic."
Canucks' Luongo ready for a second time around
September 28
Vancouver Province
 
"Roberto Luongo's body language and tone of voice suggested the guy behind the bench might be on to something if faced with a similar circumstance. Instead of agonizing over the prolonged process to get to opening night, the Vancouver Canucks goaltender spoke in anticipation of his first preseason start on Wednesday in Anaheim. With coach Alain Vigneault purposely holding back the majority of his veterans until the final three exhibition games following a marathon 107-game season and short summer, an accent on skating and systems has been replaced by an itch to play. "Even though it's preseason, you still get a little nervous which is kind of weird if you think what we went through last"
Fans worry most about Luongo
September 19
Vancouver Province
 
"It was Roberto Luongo who topped TEAM 1040's poll this morning of issues that worry Canucks fans most. If the team's biggest issue to start training camp is a goalie who was a Vezina finalist last year, it should qualify under "rich people's problems." Luongo was the runaway pick by 62 per cent of the respondents while 32 per cent chose replacing Christian Ehrhoff and just six per cent were worried about the second line. That's a second line that will be without Mason Raymond and Ryan Kesler. They are both out indefinitely, head coach Alain Vigneault said in his Friday news conference. The Canucks weren't exactly worried about any of this as they arrived Friday for their physicals. They"
Canucks' Roberto Luongo back to take care of 'unfinished business'
September 14
Vancouver Sun
 
"Three months later, the wounds have healed and Roberto Luongo insists he has put last season behind him. At least the bad ending. Luongo, who joined many of his Vancouver Canuck teammates on the ice Tuesday morning for an informal workout prior to Tuesday night's induction into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, said he prefers to dwell on all the positives of last season. "All I can say is now when I think about last year I don't think about disappointment, I don't think about negative things," Luongo said after attending a luncheon honouring the Hall of Fame inductees. "I think about the season we had as a group. We did some phenomenal things, not only in the regular season. We were one game"
Luongo doesn't expect to win Vezina
June 22
Vancouver Province
 
"Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo let it be known Tuesday he's not expecting to walk away with the Vezina Trophy on Wednesday. Luongo is nominated with Nashville's Pekka Rinne and Boston's Tim Thomas. Thomas, who led the Bruins to the Stanley Cup title last week, is the favourite. Luongo also said he thinks everything is fine between he and Thomas. The Boston media had a field day over Luongo's comments on a wraparound goal Thomas allowed in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final. Luongo had said his style of goaltending would have made it easier for him to make that type of wraparound save. "I think everything is cool," Luongo said. "We had a few words after the series was over. I have"
Canucks goalie battle brewing
June 19
Vancouver Province
 
"When it comes to the Canucks' goaltending situation, there were two items of interest which surfaced during the team's wrap-up day with media. Neither of them was the fact Roberto Luongo said he's good with Vancouver and all it means to play here. He wants to stay. GM Mike Gillis wants him to stay. It was expected. The bones presented for later chewing were in fact about Luongo's backup, Cory Schneider. On one, Gillis suggested he'll need to be floored, and then have his socks blown clear off, by an offer to consider trading him. "I don't want to just trade him," Gillis said after the press conference during which he was visibly put-off by a suggestion it may not be fair to keep Schneider,"
Blaming Luongo easy, but depleted defence killed Canucks
June 19
Vancouver Sun
 
"Glenn Hall has long said that taking grief is part of a goaltender's lot in life. Think of it along the lines of the income tax deductions that come with a healthy paycheque. But, for those who want to send Roberto Luongo to the guillotine, is he really the reason the Vancouver Canucks are still looking for their first Stanley Cup after 41 National Hockey League seasons? OK, he seems prone to the odd goal where fans wonder "how did that go in?" But it's not like he's Jon Casey, the beleaguered goalie trying to conceal what Boston Globe scribe Kevin Dupont called "the technicolour five-hole." Luongo is not as good as he has been made out to be, but he's still one of the half-dozen best"
Can Lou be backed for future?
June 18
Vancouver Province
 
"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"
First decision for Canucks? What to do with Roberto Luongo
June 17
Toronto Star
 columnist Damien Cox
"There's losing, and there's losing. Which makes the assumption of many that the Vancouver Canucks will get right back to winning once next season begins, at least the kind of winning they did this year before they ran into the brick wall known as the Boston Bruins, speculative at best. You didn't hear anybody inside or outside of the Miami Heat organization dare suggest that basketball squad just needed to continue on ahead as is following their stunning loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA final last weekend. No one's saying they have to move LeBron James, or even one of his two running mates. But that was no ordinary loss. That was not a heroic defeat, and so pretty much everyone"
Canuck Luongo's will to win in question now more than ever
June 17
Vancouver Province
 
"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"
A long series ends poorly for Luongo
June 16
Boston Globe
 
"After all the botched save attempts and soft goals, the ultimate miss came when Patrice Bergeron was sliding toward Roberto Luongo, the puck pushed toward the goal along with the Bruins forward. And as Bergeron passed through the crease, so did the puck, leaking past Luongo and into the net. In that moment, the focus and the game had slipped away from the Vancouver goalie. By the end, when the Bruins were hoisting the Stanley Cup after their 4-0 win last night in Game 7, Luongo had allowed three goals on just 20 shots. He had proven to be a sieve, looking bad in game after game of the Final. The goals slid past him as the Bruins scored again and again and claimed their title. "Listen,"
Luongo's home magic disappears in Game 7
June 16
NHL.com
 
"The magic Roberto Luongo displayed at Rogers Arena throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs wasn't there when the Canucks needed it most. Luongo's performance in Game 7 won't be remembered for any soft goals or blunders. But on a night when he needed to be perfect, Luongo allowed three goals on 20 shots in a 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night. It was just Luongo's fourth loss at home in 14 games during this postseason. Through the first six games of this series, Luongo was either borderline flawless or maddeningly flawed. In Games 1, 2 and 5 at Rogers Arena, he stopped 95 of 97 shots in three victories. In Games 3, 4 and 6 in TD Garden, he was pulled twice and allowed a whopping"
Luongo like Forrest Gump: You never know what you're going to get
June 15
Vancouver Province
 
"Of all the mistakes Roberto Luongo has made this series, and there's been several, the ones which ruined Game 6 were the biggest. But the oddest one remains him saying last week a goal scored on Tim Thomas would have been an easy save for him. He should know better. Really, everyone should. Nothing comes easy for Luongo. Ever. He was drafted by the Islanders, and buried in Florida. He's spent much of his early career on terrible teams and didn't play a playoff game until he was 28. It probably doesn't help, he's moody, sensitive, endlessly passionate, a tireless worker and continually misunderstood. He's cut few breaks and that's probably because he's wildly inconsistent, prone to"
Another downer for Canucks' Roberto Luongo
June 14
Yahoo! Sports
 columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika
"As soon as Roberto Luongo walked into the dressing room, he was surrounded – swarmed, really. The reporters were on all sides, overflowing out the door and into the hallway. Voice recorders pressed inches from his lips. Boom mics almost brushed the bill of his cap. TV cameras and spotlights pointed at his face, held high by men on stepstools, hoping to get a clear angle above the horde. Luongo spoke for about three minutes. He actually asked the key question. "I've got to believe in myself, right?" he said. Right there is the heart of this enigma, the Jekyll and Hyde of elite goaltenders, the guy who can get pulled and then pitch a shutout and then get pulled again in the Stanley Cup"
Before exit, Luongo left lot to be desired
June 14
Boston Globe
 
"It took the Bruins 8 minutes and 35 seconds to take down Canucks Roberto Luongo last night in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. That's all the time they needed to score three goals and banish Luongo to the bench for the fourth time in the 2011 playoffs, sending the Bruins on their way to a 5-2 victory and a trip to Vancouver for a decisive Game 7 tomorrow night. Entering the game, Luongo actually had a shutout streak going against the Bruins after a 1-0 win in Game 5 in Vancouver, but that streak ended at 65:31 when Brad Marchand collected a chip off the right wall from Mark Recchi and beat Luongo on the short side with a wrist shot at 5:31 of the first. It was not a good goal, and instead"
Luongo's legacy on the line
June 13
Vancouver Province
 
"Two things stand out from the first time I ever sat down with Roberto Luongo. One, was the way he said he "burned" to win a Stanley Cup. For whatever reason, it's always resonated. Two, was the song he told me he listened to at the time when he wanted to pump himself up, U2's City of Blinding Lights . I just found it an odd, well, soft choice. Nearly five years later, and after the 770 stories I've written with him included since, his desire to win is no less obvious. Saw it echoing in Rogers Arena when he authoritatively thwacked his stick on the ice after Game 5's shutout win. But so much else has changed. Even the way I view that U2 track. It's not bad live, and being about loss of"
Luongo has paid off when stakes are high
June 13
Boston Globe
 
"All right, so Lord Stanley's oversized silver fruit bowl will be backstage at TD Garden tonight and the good people of Vancouver have been waiting 96 years to get it back. It isn't like Roberto Luongo hasn't felt a million-megawatt spotlight on him before. Last year, he was the masked man that the entire country was counting on to hold off the Yanks in overtime in the Olympic final in his home rink and win the only gold medal that Canadians really cared about. And the Canucks goaltender already has been through a near-death experience this postseason, having been pulled twice and benched once in the opening series against Chicago that went down to overtime of the seventh game after"
Tim Thomas not focused on jabs
June 13
ESPN.com
 
"Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas has a message for Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo and it's not in the form of flattery. Luongo has taken a few digs at his counterpart, and fellow Vezina Trophy finalist, the last couple of days, and when asked to respond after the Bruins' practice Sunday at TD Garden, Thomas took a different route. "I did hear about what he said, but I don't really want to go into that," Thomas said. "My focus is on what I can do to help my team win going into Game 6. It's obviously a must-win game and I think it's important for our whole team to focus on that game and what we can do on the ice.""
Luongo's legacy on the line
June 12
Vancouver Province
 
"Two things stand out from the first time I ever sat down with Roberto Luongo. One, was the way he said he "burned" to win a Stanley Cup. For whatever reason, it's always resonated. Two, was the song he told me he listened to at the time when he wanted to pump himself up, U2's City of Blinding Lights . I just found it an odd, well, soft choice. Nearly five years later, and after the 770 stories I've written with him included since, his desire to win is no less obvious. Saw it echoing in Rogers Arena when he authoritatively thwacked his stick on the ice after Game 5's shutout win. But so much else has changed. Even the way I view that U2 track. It's not bad live, and being about loss of"