Luongo in Olympics

[Mervillian]

Dean,

You're completely missing the point. There is NO Luongo bashing in here, bud. I even made it a point to clarify how good he was for certain situations and for winning.

Luongo was average. It's so obvious it's not even funny. This has nothing to do with being a fan it has everything to do with being a goalie scout. I'd give him a C+ at best.

Crosby was the reason Canada won the Gold medal game. Luongo was the reason they almost lost it.

Sorry, you just lost all credibility with that last statement. I didn't agree with everything you were saying before, but was giving you the benefit of the doubt. Crosby scored 1 freaking goal.....it was in overtime and will go down as one of the most important goals in Canada hockey history. But he is far from the reason Canada won the game. There was 20 skaters + 1 goalie that played in the final game. Had Luongo not stopped those 34 shots, Crosby ends the tournament pointless in the last 3 games and with a silver medal around his neck. Did Luongo steal the game for Canada, absolutely not.....did he play as well as he is capable of, no, but to say he was "average at best" is not giving him credit. He was consistent and all around quite good imo (no I'm not self proclaimed goalie scout, but I still can watch him play). Would you rather a goalie that can shutout a team 1 game, then give up 4 goals in the first dozen minutes of the next......not in this tournament you wouldn't.

It is also worth noting (no excuses) that Luongo was wearing new equipment, which could explain his difficulty in catching the late (deflected) shot with his glove.

[letnry]

In comparing Miller to Luongo in the GOLD medal game - Luongo wins. One could argue that Miller should've stopped that Crosby shot. Not a good goal and Miller would tell you that himself.

Good point. And not to take anything away from Miller in that game, or the tournament as he was very deserving of the MVP, but he was admittedly overaggressive in going for the poke check and Crosby made him pay. So maybe it wasn't as much Crosby that won the game as it was Miller that cost them the game?

[GoalieGuild]

LOL at the comment about Luongo's glove and new equipment. No goalie would ever wear stiff gear in a game like that. His equipment was a non-issue. You don't break in goalie equipment during the biggest tournament in the world. Come on, now.

If you watch the replay of the Crosby goal, you can see Miller's blocker hand halfway up the shaft of his stick. He was absolutely going for the poke-check and it was the wrong decision and give Crosby credit for looking up and scoring the goal. Instant classic.

Speaking of Classic...remember Winter Classic game when Crosby scored on Miller in the shootout? Kind of a similar result...Crosby sneaks it between the legs after it went off Miller's stick. Interesting.

HAHA. Giving me the benefit of the doubt? It doesn't take a genius to realize Luongo was fighting the puck the entire game.

I'm a goalie. I know what matters in the end. Luongo won. He deserves all the credit in the world and I'm not even trying to take away what he was able to accomplish. I'm simply saying that he struggled in that game.

And it clearly wasn't because of new equipment LOLOL.

[ultrawhiteness]

i have trouble believing there is opposition to your claims here, Justin.

it was pretty clear to me that Lou didn't have his best game. i haven't seen a guy bobble so many pucks with his glove since Carey Price in the playoffs. i had more confidence with Lou in net than I did with Brodeur, but damn... almost gave me a few heart attacks.

[smack]

i have trouble believing there is opposition to your claims here, Justin.

it was pretty clear to me that Lou didn't have his best game. i haven't seen a guy bobble so many pucks with his glove since Carey Price in the playoffs. i had more confidence with Lou in net than I did with Brodeur, but damn... almost gave me a few heart attacks.

Totally agree. Luongo didn't play badly but he wasn't stellar and people then saying how Miller let in 1 bad goal has nothing to do with Luongo's play.

[GoalieGuild]

Exactly!!!

It has nothing to do with being a fan or who was better than the other. Both goalies were amazing in their own different ways and it came down to one brilliant play by Crosby and one small mistake by Miller. That's it. Same mistakes and brilliant plays could have happened to anyone. Just like Parise's goal to send the game to OT was a result of Luongo not catching a puck (still need to point out that Getzlaf deflected that puck sent in on him though...saw it on freeze-frame!!).

I've talked about Luongo a lot this year. At the beginning of the season, it was his issues dealing with all the traffic and bodies in front. He quickly adjusted his game and after a few weeks was playing higher up in his crease. He's good at making adjustments and staying focused. The NHL season has been a very solid one for the Canucks so far.

The Olympics is an awesome tournament to watch because it's such a pressure-filled platform. You get to witness goalies going above and beyond and you get to witness goalies struggling under the pressure.

Luongo was a little bit of both. He struggled at times, but he was there when Canada needed him most. That's all that matters when it comes to winning and losing.

When it comes to scouting him though, what matters is execution, save ability and all those mental aspects I've been trying to drill into everyone's brains for three years And in that aspect, Luongo was C+ at best.

No big deal. Olympics are over. NHL is back in session and I'm going to the Avs/Wings game tonight of course woohoo!!!

[Dean Youngblood]

I didn't mean that you were bashing Luongo - I was generalizing the Luongo bashing as a whole on these boards (not specific to this thread - my bad). I should've been clearer.

I don't agree with your analysis of the final game. Yes Luongo fought the puck in a few instances but Miller was not the star he was in the games. IMO, Miller looked "average" at best too.

As for "one small mistake by Miller", can't take that one seriously - it was a HUGE mistake. He kicked out a nice rebound to Toews too. Neither goalie was great in the Olympic Gold Medal Game but it would be a hell of a nervous game to play in I am sure. I think Loungo outplayed Miller

[Mervillian]

LOL at the comment about Luongo's glove and new equipment. No goalie would ever wear stiff gear in a game like that. His equipment was a non-issue. You don't break in goalie equipment during the biggest tournament in the world. Come on, now.

If you watch the replay of the Crosby goal, you can see Miller's blocker hand halfway up the shaft of his stick. He was absolutely going for the poke-check and it was the wrong decision and give Crosby credit for looking up and scoring the goal. Instant classic.

Speaking of Classic...remember Winter Classic game when Crosby scored on Miller in the shootout? Kind of a similar result...Crosby sneaks it between the legs after it went off Miller's stick. Interesting.

HAHA. Giving me the benefit of the doubt? It doesn't take a genius to realize Luongo was fighting the puck the entire game.

I'm a goalie. I know what matters in the end. Luongo won. He deserves all the credit in the world and I'm not even trying to take away what he was able to accomplish. I'm simply saying that he struggled in that game.

And it clearly wasn't because of new equipment LOLOL.

Didn't say it wasn't broken in....I said that it was new (or I suppose different would be a better word). Luongo is very particular and superstitious about his equipment. He used to have a separate set for the canucks 3rd jersey, but quickly went away from it after he had not faired very well in it. So while it probably had no effect, there may have been a very slight difference to his Canucks equipment (after all, if 1% difference in bone density can make a player more injury prone, then can't different equipment make any difference). Luongo used his olympic pads in his last game for the Canucks before the break; why would he bother doing this if there was absolutely no difference between the sets.

Your statements are completely contradicting each other all over the place: "It has nothing to do with being a fan or who was better than the other." and from your "article".... "Miller, who was tested more often, was clearly the better goalie in the Gold medal game". Yup, pretty clear comparison there. Oh, and Miller was tested 3 more times than Luongo officially (although you may be able to argue quality of shots) and let in an extra goal. So what do you really believe? That's just one example.

I wouldn't mind seeing how your would rank all the Olympic goalies on their play in meaningful games. Maybe these goalies looked the way they did because the players shooting on them were that much better than in the NHL. Instead of 3 forwards per team with that kind of skill, there is 12. So maybe "average" (as you rank him, better as some other rank him) is actually a very good accomplishment by itself and not just because he won gold.

Sorry, but you're just coming off as another bitter american fan.

[GoalieGuild]

Merv,

Sorry, but your last post is offensive.

First of all, you're preaching to the choir when it comes to goalie equipment. You should check out my website and look up the PadsTracker you'd probably like it.

And please don't take a quote from my article and then a quote from this thread and try to make me look like I don't know what I'm talking about. You only look at it as "contradicting" because you're taking two totally different trains of thought and context and trying to relate them.

And to end your ast post with the whole "nationality" thing is a JOKE. When it comes to providing everyone with solid INSIGHT on this website, nothing I ever say or preach has to do with being a fan. I'm not American. I'm not Canadian. I'm Goaltendian. I scout goalies and give you insight and tell it like it is. I didn't root for anyone in the Olympics except for a shutout in every game.

So LIKE I SAID EARLIER, it has nothing to do with being a fan. Go back and watch the game in a few days and you'll CLEARLY see how much Luongo struggled with visual eye attachment, footwork, positioning (his angles were off A TON in that game) etc, etc, etc. Sure, one goal better than Miller, but my original analysis had nothing to do with winning or losing ... it had to do with execution and consistency.

I agree the Gold Medal game was not an "amazing performance" for either goaltender but in the overtime, Miller made some fantastic saves in as much pressure as you can possiby face. They both were good but I thought, despite the loss, Miller was better. I've been saying the whole tournament (had you been paying attention before coming in here and trying to rip me) that goalies that played consistent minutes performed better than goalies that had to deal with being on the bench and I thought Miller vs. Luongo was a great example of that. That's all I've been trying to tell people.

I don't mind when a passionate fan has an issue with it or has some intelligent things to say as a rebuttal, but your weak attack on my attitude as a "fan" being "bitter" is uncalled for. I hate to say it, but I've never had anyone on here EVER make that kind of snide comment about me or to me and I didn't like it.

[Mervillian]

Well I will retract my last statement if it offends you. But reading your article I was able to determine in my mind that you were probably american (it wasn't until after posting the comment I noticed your location in your forum user info). Anytime Ron Wilson's quote is brought up it seems to me that the person is trying to belittle what the Canadians were able to accomplish. The were able to win when it mattered most. But I will retract the statement as it was just a simple observation that I don't feel strongly about and don't want overshadow what else I am trying to say.

Given your article originally linked to the forum post I really didn't think it was a stretch at all to think they were connected. The are both your opinion and are making your point.

Maybe Luongo wasn't as technically sound as he has been before (or could have been), but he was able to fight through it and make the saves. Calling him "average" to me means that Canada could have won with just about any NHL goalie between the pipes. I simply can't believe they would. You give him credit for winning a gold medal, but never for the saves he did make. There was 34 of them, and not all of them were as easy as you are portaying (including several in overtime). MA Fluery also won a gold medal, should Luongo not deserve more credit for it than him?

This tournament made some of the best goalies in the world look very bad including Nabokov Kipprusoff and Brodeur (albeit in 1 game for some). Luongo was very consistent game to game with (in my opinion) only 1 bad goal in 5 games.

[GoalieGuild]

Merv,

No worries!! Please realize (I'm sure you do now) that I would never belittle a winning country or anything like that. I've got a great reputation on here and nobody else took my article or comments in here as being some jaded American, so hopefully you realize that now.

I guess it's impossible to provide analysis on an Olympics Gold Medal game like that without being considered a bitter American fan LOL. But obviously that's nowhere close to where I'm coming from with my analysis...but it comes with the territory of living in Colorado!!

Case closed regarding the Olympics. Luongo was great statistically and his save percentage was good and he won every single game he started. He deserves all of the credit and accolades given to him for winning the Gold medal. He beat the only other undefeated goalie and almost matched him save for save. It's fun to discuss who faced tougher scoring chances and who had to play better than the other.

Personally I thought Miller performed better than Luongo, but like I've been saying, the better goalie doesn't always win. But that doesn't take anything away from what Luongo accomplished. Just please don't take my analysis as being anti-Canadian or anything like that. Everyone on here knows I'd never be that trite....

I have always been a Luongo fan and if you go back through my articles you'll see I love his combination of size and quickness...that's what makes him so elite. Just because I thought he struggled at times in the Gold Medal game doesn't mean I don't like him. It is what it is ... that's what I saw in the game and that's what I discussed and dissected. Even a number of Canadians agreed that Luongo was fighting the puck. It's not a big deal, especially since he still won the game!!!!

[ridinryan44]

I'm 100% with the guild here..... Luongo was good enough to win the game, but every time the US took a shot, I cringed. His glove hand was horrid and he seemed timid. He had times where his positioning was typical Luongo, high out in front of the crease, and his confidence looked good, but then he would bobble a puck and revert back to the timidness. I was never truly confident with Luongo in net.

In comparison look at how he played against Dallas in the playoffs a few years ago. Downright stellar. Confident, forced shooters where he wanted them and looked unbeatable. I had the feeling that they just were not going to score on him. This tourny I was constantly worried that he was gonna let out a juicy rebound and get scored on. The same went with Brodeur. I was never 100% comfortable with either goalie.

Yea he won the game, and yea I'm stoked, and yea he made some big saves, but he was in no way elite and in no way the reason they won. Miller would have been the reason that USA won, and Luongo was far from that comparison.

[ridinryan44]

Merv,
Even a number of Canadians agreed that Luongo was fighting the puck. It's not a big deal, especially since he still won the game!!!!

I'm Canadian, I LOVE the Canucks, and I was NOT happy with Luongo's performance. He is better than that. He was definitely fighting the puck.

There was this one shot from behind Miller when he had a couple players in front of him. He's down, almost on the ice, looking through the legs of the players hunting down the puck. He had that air about him that NOTHING was gonna beat him. Luongo looked the opposite. Just a real lack of confidence and comfort. I don't blame him, I'd be nervous too, but Miller was far better.

[GoalieGuild]

Good posts, Ryan.

I am 100% confident of all my analysis from the Gold Medal game and the entire Olympics, as I watched every single game and wrote a scouting report for just about every other game.

But as someone who provides valuable goalie analysis on this website, my reputation is important to me (and to Dobber) and so there was no way I was going to let Merv's statement about being a "bitter American" go without letting people know I don't stand for that stuff.

[ultrawhiteness]

luongo was average, brodeur was mostly average except for his OT and shootout, and nabokov was average. happens to all good goalies once in a while, especially when you're playing teams of all-stars.

i was surprised to see the Luongo using seemingly new gear. heck, i was surprised to see all the Canadian skaters whereing new, matching gloves. unless they have some way of wearing those things in, i'd be pretty hesitant to switch to brand new gloves myself if i was heading into some big games.