VANCOUVER — For much of Roberto Luongo's six years as a Vancouver
Canuck, a Special Forces extraction team couldn't have removed the goaltender
from his crease no matter how many goals he gave up. But after a 38-save, 1-0
shutout win Monday against the Los Angeles Kings, Luongo will watch Cory Schneider
play tonight.
Two weeks before the National Hockey League playoffs begin, this is
significant.
It's almost unheard of in Vancouver, where there has been a
black-and-white clarity between starter and backup for more than a decade and
at least three managerial regimes. More…
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| Should Cory be used in the playoffs? |
Shacks’ take: Since I started doing my takes on the local
columnists I Mac has been the one guy I’ve rarely had to single out for trying
to instill panic in the locals. He seems
to write based on the big picture more than focusing on finding the negatives
that could spell doom. Credit goes to Mr.
MacIntyre since that’s an uncommon trait among the local press.
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| Or is Lui still the unquestioned starter? |
In this article he merely points out the Canucks have two excellent
goaltending options leading into the playoffs.
While many of his colleagues may have written this as a possible rift in
the Canucks and that the goaltending controversy could lead to trouble in the
playoffs. I Mac rationally explains Vancouver may be leaning towards giving Schneider some
play in the playoffs and that Luongo might not be the unquestioned starter
anymore.
Personally I agree with both his take and the thought of using both goalies. As I’ve mentioned several times, the Canucks
have 2 great starting goalies and while I believe Luongo may have slightly more
upside, Schneider’s lows are nowhere near as low as Lui’s. Vancouver should be
using whichever goalie is hot that day, not Luongo because he’s AV’s guy.
I love the hope these kinds of articles give me. Thanks IMac. Maybe I am not the only person who sees the long-term sense in developing a solid goalie in his early 20's vs a schizo princess who has had 6 kicks at the cup with various versions of this team. Maybe.....probably not though.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I'd likely rather have Schneider long term but Lui's ridiculous contract makes that almost impossible. Since we're stuck with Lui long term, I think it would be great idea to use Schneids while we have him because if Lui never plays a consistent 2 months, and he's always the starter, we'll never win the Cup.
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