Will Halak or Luongo turn things around?

[tripel]

Very thoughtful response, as I expected.

I tend to agree with your approach to things, and I even agree with your "#3 is clearly #3" assertion, but for different reasons - I think #3 is #3 not because it would be Gillis' last choice, but rather because I think Luongo's contract (as good as he is, and I agree with you) is too much of an albatross for a trade of Luongo to be a viable option, Now before you go apeshit on the "albatross" reference, keep in mind I don't disagree that Luongo is really good, but that contract keeps him in contract, at a $5.3 million cap hit, UNTIL HE'S 43 YEARS OLD! Sure Lou is a hardworker and should still be in decent shape when he's 35, 36, 37, but 43? At the very least, it's got to be a very short list of GMs who would be willing to take on a contract of that length, it comes with pretty big risks, even though as you said today it comes with some out clauses.

he's been a top tier goalie his entire career.
why is it unreasonable to assume he could go into his late 30s?
you see the Rolosons of the world going farther than that. Goalies more than any other position have shown effectiveness at later ages.
More to the point, there are several escape clauses that everyone decrying Luongo's contract always overlooks: 5 years into the deal (summer '14), Luongo can request a trade, 2 years after that ('16), the team can request a trade, plus they can buy him out, or he can retire. http://www.faceoff.com/story.html?id...5-6c328be5e1d1 Gillis knows what he is doing.

Of course it's completely moot argument, but if he were put on the block right now I would bet a lot that there would be plenty of teams lining up with offers.

[tripel]

Let me clarify my position. I'm not saying that trading Luongo will lead to everything coming up Millhouse and that Schneider and the Canucks will waltz their way to the Stanley Cup.

That being said:

Yeah Luongo had some pretty solid numbers and also moments in last years playoffs, but you can't nitpick the good moments without looking at the bad. How many goals did he let in from behind the net last year that actually led to teams taking shots from behind the goal line? How about how he served up a nice pass to Joe Thornton for a goal? How about the patented 'fish out of the water' move that never ever works? I'd argue that the only game that he legitimately singlehandedly stole for the Canucks in the entire playoffs was Game 5 of the Sharks series. I was there for that game and the team was skating through molasses and he held them in there.

As for the 'armchair gm's that think Luongo doesn't have the mental toughness', do you think Justin Goldman is an armchair GM? The guy analyses goalies for a living and he's been saying for awhile now what many people have noticed with regards to Luongo's body language. It sucks. Not to mention this tweet yesterday:



Goaltenders are supposed to exude confidence and strengthen the team. I mean look, do I think Luongo gets more shit than he deserves from the Vancouver fans and the general media? Yeah I do. But I think at some point the bridges were burned. You can see it in his interviews, Luongo is terrible with composure in general. Do you think he ENJOYS playing for a team and a city that boos him every time he gives up a bad goal, because that's essentially what the situation has become in Vancouver in my eyes.

Despite all of this, I appreciate the complexity of the situation. Like I said in my post (if you actually read the whole thing) was that if the Canucks were faced with trading Luongo for a prospect right NOW do I think they would do it? Probably not because I don't think they'd feel comfortable trying to make a cup run with Schneider/Climie or Schneider/Lack, not to mention the prospect return wouldn't fit into their win-now framework.

Anyways, don't want to get into this a whole lot because this is a conversation that will end up nowhere because the bottom line is they won't trade Luongo and he's probably stuck on the Canucks until he retires (though over the weekend Friedman said some interesting things about the new CBA that I can't remember right now but I remember it pertained to Luongo's contract).

PS: You are right though, I only started watching hockey regularly about 3-4 years ago, so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.

apologies if what i wrote sounded like i was taking shots at you -- didnt mean that, just frustrated at the overwhelming sentiment seems to be focused on driving Luongo out of town, and adding, IMO, to Vancouver's infamous and not un-deserved moniker of goalie graveyard. I did read your whole post, but what struck me as off-base was the idea that a prospect is all they could get for him now, as though his stock had plummetted that much (based IMO 90% on the whirlwind of negativity.)

Dont know much about Justin Goldman, but sure, yeah, if I was Luongo and seemingly the entire hockey universe was pouncing on any opportunity to crap on me I might be slumping over a bit too. Yeah, the guy let his emotions get the better of him ("pump the tires" comment, oy) and have had his share of bad playoff moments (but still, I strongly contend, no more than the rest of the team), but I believe as for the entire team, last year will be tough experience that will help the learning curve. I simply would not be anywhere near as confident with Schneider and his 5 playoff games experience....I am far more confident that the morons howlers in Vancouver would just as easily dig a plot in the goalie graveyard for Cory...

[tripel]

of course my argument gets thinner with each passing awesome performance by Schneids..

[bondon]

of course my argument gets thinner with each passing awesome performance by Schneids..

Haha, man he's playing lights out right now its a friggin treat to watch. At the very least this is driving up his trade value a ton. 47/48....geeze.

Last night was interesting I thought as both goalies (Halak and Luongo) kind of headed in opposite directions with last night's action. Despite everybody expecting him to get slaughtered by Hunter and his Capitals he put out a pretty solid stat line for the night, while Schneider looked like a vacuum out there and continues to force AV's hand.

Schneider has been confirmed for tomorrow's game against the Predators but I've been unable to find anything regarding Halak on Friday against the Avalanche.

These two situations are going to be very interesting to watch as they play out...that's for sure.