It was only a few weeks ago that the New Jersey Devils lost Martin Brodeur to injury for most of the season, and now it looks like the NHL has lost another elite goalie to injury after Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo left this afternoon's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins with an apparent groin injury. The Vancouver Sun has the details:
So what does this mean for Vancouver? In short, nothing good.Vancouver impressively beat the Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 here, but lost goalie and franchise cornerstone Roberto Luongo with what appeared to be a serious injury to his left groin.
Canuck coach Alain Vigneault said the severity of the injury won't be known until Luongo undergoes an MRI exam Sunday in Vancouver, but it did not look like Luongo will be able to play anytime soon.
Luongo isn't just one of the league's elite goalies, he's generally acknowledged to be the best in the game, and has been since his days with the Florida Panthers when he consistently faced more rubber than any other goalie in the league while keeping his team in the game more often than not. If he's gone for any longer than a couple of weeks, the Canucks are cooked -- which is why my old buddy Alanah McGinley quickly endorsed midday cocktails for Canucks Nation.
Drink up, it's going to be a rough ride.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-22-2008 @ 8:17PM
jim scott said...
the canucks arent in that bad a situation as any one can see they will play thier guts out for sandford and the beauty of him is he isnt a prima donna like the great luongo and luongo will definitely tell you he is great
Reply
11-22-2008 @ 9:54PM
Colonial said...
It doesn't matter if they "play their guts out for Sanford". The truth of the matter is the Nucks are a very average team with a great goaltender. They could play their guts out every night and still fight to be a .500 team without Luongo.
Reply
11-23-2008 @ 6:39PM
John B. said...
Losing Luongo is definatley a big blow. Sanford has played well his last couple of games but it is hard to see him going much over .500 even if the rest of the canucks continue to play well.
If Luongo is out for the rest of the season it will be extremely difficult to make the playoffs given how tough it is in our conference. Sanford it good enough to shoulder the burden about a month or so without us dropping too far in the standings but if it is much more than that, we could be in serious trouble.
11-23-2008 @ 6:39PM
Kevan said...
If he does miss a huge chunk of time, it may give the canucks a chance to see what Schnieder can do. He's posting insane numbers in the AHL, something like 1.30 GAA and .945 save %.
Reply
11-23-2008 @ 9:03PM
JH said...
The sight of Luongo being helped off the ice like that is a nightmare for Canuck fans. If luongo is done for an extended period of time, the Canucks are done for on many levels. No more Sundin, no playoffs, and maybe time to rebuild. There are the positives of using cory schneider or picking tavares/hedman... my thoughts http://jib-sports-culture.blogspot.com/2008/11/roberto-luongo-injured-future-of.html
Reply
11-24-2008 @ 1:20AM
Hugh G Rection said...
Luongo sees more rubber than the hookers on Vancouvers east side. He's no prima donna, he's just a guy who wants to win. Players on the team love him (including his former team).
Reply