CuJuongo Pulled Yet Again

The follies of watching Roberto Luongo attempt to play goal of late would be hilarious, if these egregious errors in goaltending weren't correctable. Let's start with his vaunted work ethic.

Now supposedly Luongo loves to practice to work on his game. Then why is it he is unable to handle the puck well? This inability in the modern game costs him dearly. The main thing is without this skill he quite naturally is incredibly timid in coming out of his net to chase loose pucks. As recent proof of that the Valtteri Filppula breakaway goal vs. Detroit where Bingo Bango Bongo should have pulled a Hasek and come out to shoot that puck away or at least slide out and flip Filppula over a la this. Sure it's hard to knock a goalie who stops 50 shots in a game but, of late, it seems the goals Luongo lets in are atrocious to say the least.

Which brings us to the other point--rest. Has Luongo or Coach Yogi Bear not learned the history of goalies who play too many regular season games? Throw in the fact that goalies who not only play in the Olympics but go deep in that tournament and take the gold tend to have lousy Stanley Cup runs in the spring.

Have a look at the Olympic gold medal winning goalies playoff record the year of their glory at the Winter Games:

Czech Republic goalie Dominik Hasek in '98 continues his excellent season and takes the 6th-seeded Sabres to the Conference Finals. He follows that up in '99 with a trip to the Final.
Then again this is Hasek who was arguably the greatest goalie of his generation (sorry, Patrick Roy).

In '02 Canadian gold medalist Martin Brodeur of the Devils (also a 6th-seeded team that year in the East) loses in the 1st round to the Carolina Hurricanes (who actually had 91 pts compared to New Jersey's 95). In '03, though, Marty takes New Jersey to its third Stanley Cup.

Swedish goalie Henrik Lundqvist takes the gold in Torino and promptly flames out in the 1st round as the 6th-seeded (is this a pattern or what?) New York Rangers get swept by their neighbors from New Jersey.

Unless you think Luongo is the next coming of Hasek, the Canucks are headed for a fall in round 1. Then again, here's hoping he's either the second coming of Hasek or Brodeur and it's a Cup Final run the following season in 2011. Stranger things have happened.

More worrying is the number of games Luongo is again racking up. He's played 62 with the Canucks and another 5 with Canada at the Olympics so far this season. Last season he played just 54 games and "almost" got the Canucks into the Conference Finals (curse you, Patrick Kane!).

Put it this way, the following goalies were your Stanley Cup champions with their regular season games played going into the playoffs each of those seasons:
'98 Chris Osgood, DET 64 GP
'99 Ed Belfour, DAL 61 GP
'00 Martin Brodeur, NJ 72 GP
'01 Patrick Roy, COLO 62 GP
'02 Dominik Hasek, DET 65 GP
'03 Martin Brodeur, NJ 73 GP
'04 Nikolai Khabibulin, TB 55 GP
'06 Cam Ward, CAR 28 GP
'07 Jean-Sebastien Giguere, ANA 56 GP
'08 Chris Osgood, DET 43 GP
'09 Marc-Andre Fleury, PITT 62 GP

So post-lockout the average number of games the Stanley Cup winner played in the regular season was 47 GP. Pre-lockout the average was 64 GP (boosted by Brodeur's ability to play a huge number of games because he faced fewer shots than most goalies given the New Jersey defense).

Anyway, if Luongo is to actually take the Canucks to Cup glory and not turn into a CuJo again come playoff-time, he may want to shut it down until round 1 starts. Or maybe the Canucks should pull a '06 Cam Ward move should Roberto falter. They could then ride Andrew Raycroft all the way to the Final. Hey, if Canada can win the most gold medals at an Olympic Games, anything can happen.

United In Their Love Of Italian Food

Now that all is right with the world and Canada truly has a "team" in every sense of the word with 12 players in on the goals and not one named Crosby! That win vs. Russia has to rank as one of the greatest Team Canada performances ever. As long as Canada takes gold it will atone for the 1981 8-1 loss in the Canada Cup Final--the only time the Russians (disguised as Soviets back then) absolutely destroyed our best.

Also, would the TV announcers stop talking about Canada's Olympic W-L records vs. various teams here? None of this is relevant as prior to Nagano 1998, it was amateurs for Canada in the Olympics vs. de facto pros disguised as amateurs (re., the Eastern bloc teams during the Cold War). Beaver tails and bear claws or apples and oranges, if you prefer, comrades.

Onto more important hockey celeb sighting. This just in from Steve in East Van at 6 pm Thursday. Team USA are having a team dinner at La Piazza Dario (located on Slocan and E. 1th Ave.). The whole crew from Burkey on down to the 4th liners are there. Apparently this is where they've been showing up the night after games so should the US beat Finland tomorrow, look for them there on Saturday night. Bring your camera and an extra T-shirt in case Patrick Kane gets wild with the honeys again.

Looking For Chris Pronger's Brain

It's too late to trade Chris Pronger for Mike Green or to get some snipers (can you say Steve Stamkos and Martin St. Louis?) to stop firing all these shots into goalie pads, but hopefully Martin Brodeur can now go play baseball with his kids and leave the Olympic goaltending to Bingo Bango Luongo.

Keep the faith and just don't mention the war and we may just see Russia vs. Canada...which was what we all wanted, wasn't it?

Mascots In The Picture

Say "Cheesy Photo Op"

Those with tickets that say Gate 7 and 8 when you get over the bridge you have a chance to get your pic taken with Quatchi and Sumi. Of course, there is a lineup for that, but it's the shortest I've seen at these Games.

Hockey Team Gear

The faceless and headless opposition

Inside Canada Hockey Place is a pretty good selection of other teams' T-shirts, hoodies, caps, jerseys and other fan gear. Why is this stuff not sold in stores around town? I mean, who wouldn't want a Team Latvija T-shirt or Team Slovakia hoodie?

Slovak House

Slovakia misses the net on this one

Located on Seymour @ Davie (in the VanCity Theatre). Speaking of Team Slovakia, you have to pay to get in their house. Let me repeat that. Slovakia wants you to pay to see whatever it is that this nation of Marians (Hossa and Gaborik) has to offer. I'd sooner spend the $60 on souvalaki, thank you.

Ontario House

Ontario looks so much better in 4D

Located in the Concord Pacific Place across from Canada Hockey Place. Skip the line as that's just for this 4D experience. You can walk right in and they have TV screens showing the Olympics. So, if you don't score the hockey tickets you want off scalpers, this place is so close you can pop in and watch the game there. (You do have to stand as there's no seating.)

There're also these "brain waves control the world" video screens, but maybe my brain is not as fully developed as this guy here. I tried to will the screen showing downtown T.O. to explode thereby saving the rest of us outside the Centre of the Universe more endless hours of Make Belief hockey on Saturday nights. Sadly, I failed in my task as the ghosts of Claire "the Milkman" Alexander and Dan Daoust were just too strong.
Surpringsly, the menu here is good--cheap fixing and decent-sized burgers. So kudos to the only house in town that has both edible and cheap food. There may be hope for Boretario, after all.

Yaletown Pedestrian Corridors
Got anything in red?

Located along Mainland and Hamilton Streets from Drake St. to Smithe St. Looking for pirate vendors and cheap knockoff T-shirts? Want some street food besides Japadog? Into live bands without having to line up at Live City?

Well, it's all here, and it's what I expected to see along the pedestrian-only Robson Street. It's also less crowded so those of you who need a break from LiveCity Yaletown, head up here.

Yahoo! Fancouver

Look! It's snowing finally!

Located along the Hamilton St. pedestrian corridor. Yahoo! Fancouver 2010 which has free hot chocolate, free Wi-Fi Internet with a bevvy of laptops you can use, some good giveaways from pins to daily prize drawings for things like Nintendo Wii units and a bunch of TV screens to watch the Olys. It's a pretty lively place and a great pit stop along your journey through Yaletown.

Robson & W. Georgia Pedestrian Corridors
Georgia on my mind

It's great to be able to walk down Robson St. and parts of W. Georgia St. and all, but that's not enough. Get some street vendors on these streets selling something (anything!). Move the hot dog vendors into the middle of these streets. Put up big screens at either end of the these streets. Just do something with the streets now you've got them blocked off to vehicles. Anyway, a huge opportunity missed blocking these streets off and having nothing on them. If that was all they wanted to do they really should have created more pedestrian corridors around Canada Hockey Place instead to allow the crowds to flow out smoother.

Olympic Torches

Let's light this candle!

If you haven't had the opportunity to have your pic taken with the torch, then you weren't around in week 1. It seemed like every corner had someone who had run in the torch relay offering passersby a chance for some quality time with a torch. If you can find them anywhere around, jump at the chance to feel the power of the torch in your own hands.

Mini Inukshuks

I shall call them Mini Me's

One of the oddest, yet most popular, pieces of "art" are these mini Inukshuks all around the northern shore of False Creek. There are also some in Stanley Park along the southern edge of the park near the Sea Wall. They stand like some ancient culture's ruins and offer this ghostly appeal that is hard to put into words. Check them out at night as they are a bit freaky in a Blair Witch Project way.

Upside-down Heads

Up is down and down is up

Located to the north of Lansdowne Station in Richmond. Came across these while returning from the O Zone. They are massive, made of carved wood kept together with seriously large industrial-sized bolts. They look like Greek mythological figures or gods. Why they are there I have no idea but have a look, if you are around this station on the Canada Line.

A Lust For Goals

Flame on, Iginla!