Canuck Post Mortem Pt.1

Its still hard to digest the second round exit by the Canucks this year, but as with any team, the end comes sooner or later. While I’m not going to take solace in the fact that the capitals, penguins, and red wings seasons all ended a little earlier than they all expected, it is one of the great things about the Stanley cup playoffs. There’s no doubt that hockey’s second season is more exciting than any other.

Its going to take a couple of posts to run through this team, and ill start where this team does in goal. Roberto Luongo is not the best goalie in the world, as a matter of fact he may not be in the top 3. Now, that doesn’t mean he can’t get there, I compare this to us talking about Muhammad Ali the day after he lost to Frazier. Luongo didn’t play as well as he can, and I’m sure there are a number of reasons for it. It starts with the C. Some of the greatest goalies of our time were the quirkiest dudes around, a lot of them didn’t even let the media or players come near them on game days. Yet our number one is expected to do all that and more while wearing the C. Luongo isn’t the most mentally tough individual out there, that coupled with unnecessary responsibilities makes for a distracted Bobby Lou. So, take the c away and give it to Kesler or Hank Sedin. Luongo should also make Ian Clark play robin to his Batman. Why this guy only pops out here and there is beyond me. Its pretty clear that Lou needs to perfect his game some more, the added responsibilities of the C are a distraction. A team with a sleep doctor, should have a full time goalie coach or zen master. So, what to do with Lou? Well, many folks, including I. said ‘trade him’. But, then in retrospect, do you really want to make the year with a crazy ass road trip, an Olympic camp and tourney, and the year our number one shut down defense man goes down as judgment day for Lou? Maybe not. So, here’s what I say, give him a full time coach, play him around 65 games in the year, have Corey Schneider back him up, and of course, get rid of the C.