Luongo doesn't suck against Minnesota

So Luongo will get the start tomorrow against Minnesota. Cue the 'Luongo sucks against Minnesota' posts. NO. In his career, Luongo has played 29 games against Minnesota. Believe it or not, he actually has a winning record against them. I present to you: What I did with my Monday afternoon. Enjoy.

So here's Luongo's career against Minnesota with the Canucks, viewed overall. If you've never run across a chart like this, here's a handy little guide: GP = Games Played, Record is broken down into Wins-Losses-OT/SO Losses, GA is Goals Against and GAA is Goals Against Average.

Career against Minnesota, Overall:

	GP	Record	Save %	GA	GAA
Career:	29	15-10-4	.887	79	2.72
Home:	18	12-3-3	.934	36	2
Away:	11	3-7-1	.840	40	3.64

Right away, you should notice his record at home is much better than his record in Minnesota. But his away record doesn't matter, because he's going to be playing at home, where he plays much better.

Career against Minnesota, Broken Down by Year:

Season	GP	Record	Save %	GA	GAA
2011/12	2	2-0-0	1.00	0	0
2010/11	3	2-1-0	.873	8	2.67
2009/10	5	3-2-0	.868	18	3.60
2008/09	4	3-0-1	.930	7	1.75
2007/08	7	2-4-1	.885	20	2.86
2006/07	8	3-3-2	.898	26	3.25

Basically the same thing, just broken down by year. He's played much better in recent years, but he's also played way less games.

Career against Minnesota, Home Games only

Season	GP	Record	Save %	GA	GAA
2011/12	2	2-0-0	1.00	0	0
2010/11	2	2-0-0	.972	2	1
2009/10	3	3-0-0	.920	6	2
2008/09	3	2-0-1	.916	6	2
2007/08	4	1-2-1	.885	10	2.50
2006/07	4	2-1-1	.909	12	3

Just to prove my point, he currently has an 8 game win streak going against the Wild at Rogers Arena, as well as a 2 game shutout streak at home. On top of that, over the last 3 seasons Luongo has only let in an average of 1 goal per game. This, not even counting his play this season, is enough to justify his starting tomorrow night. 

Career against Minnesota, Away Games only

Season	GP	Record	Save %	GA	GAA
2011/12	0	0-0-0	0	0	0
2010/11	1	0-1-0	.677	6	6
2009/10	2	0-2-0	.791	11	3.60
2008/09	1	1-0-0	.971	1	1
2007/08	3	1-2-0	.885	8	2.67
2006/07	4	1-2-1	.887	14	3.50

Now this, this is where the crap hits the fan. This is the blemish on his record. This is what the media and fans point to when arguing against his start. Last year, he didn't play a single game in Minnesota. The year before that, only one, and he let in six goals. Before that, only 2 starts which led to 6-2 and 5-2 losses. For whatever reason, he just can't keep his cool in Minnesota. But this isn't something recent, Luongo's Minnesota Curse goes back to his first days as a Canucks, so you can't point to these stats and say he's going under. Even when he was at his best, he just couldn't keep it together in the Excel Energy Center. But all of that is invalid, throw it out the window, because it doesn't matter. What matters is his home record, which is where he'll be playing tomorrow night.

Game in Review: Anaheim 7, Vancouver 3.

I looked at my notes after the game, and almost laughed at the number of times I scribbled '...what?!' on the side. But really, what went wrong? Almost everything. But keep in mind Vancouver usually takes a few games to get fired up at the beginning of the season. I imagine it'll take a little longer this year, due to a very short training camp and that 2 key players are missing. But it's only game one, so don't flip out yet. YET.


Anaheim opened the scoring before the 10 minute mark of the first, and pretty much didn't stop. Vancouver tied it up at 9:53 on a beautiful shot by Hamhuis from the point, with Lappiere screening. The passing leading up to it was pretty solid too. A couple of minutes later, Daniel Sedin buried a rebound on the powerplay that came off of an Edler point shot, giving the Canucks the lead. Souray tied it up for Anaheim on the powerplay (maybe a bogus call, but too-little-too-late). Both teams went into the 1st intermission with about equal shots, equal chances and equal score. I don't think the second period could of gone worse. 3 straight goals by Anaheim, including 2 goals in 11 seconds, in the forced Schneider out. Luongo only faced a few shots in the second period, and let in one. You can't blame it all on the goalies, it felt like both the defense and offense just watched the puck go past them. Given the bountiful amount of icing calls on Vancouver's part, i'd say they were exhausted by the 10 minute mark. The 2nd period ended 6-2 Ducks. Edler made everyone a little happier when he pounded in a shot from the point on the powerplay. But less that a minute later Anaheim pushed another one past Luongo, and that's how the game ended. 7-3 Anaheim.

The stats were pretty even. Vancouver had the lead in shots (29-26), while Anaheim led in hits (21-10) and face-off wins (38-37). The Ducks went 3/3 on the PP, and the Canucks finished at 2/4.

Tidbits:

 - Weise actually looked good. Pulled a spin move in the 1st to create a good opportunity, had some good hits and was quick on the backcheck.
 - Ballard and Tanev were horrible as a pairing.
 - Hansen and the twins seem to be a good match on the 1st powerplay unit.
 - Powerplay mainly consisted of shots from the point, pinching by defense. Seemed to work.
    - Actually, almost all the Canucks scoring chances came from the point. All 3 goals came off of the point shot in one way or another.
 - Sedins/Burrows line was surprisingly quiet during 5 on 5, seemed like their ice time was cut down quite a bit too.

So will Schneider start tomorrow against Edmonton? Probably. Luongo ended up playing most of the game, and Schneider needs to learn to to bounce back from tough loses if he wants to play as number 1.

Stirring the Pot: Goaltending Duo

With rumors still swirling, I figured I may as well add to the speculation of what will happen to poor Roberto.

Situation 1: Roberto is traded to _____ ASAP. Schneider takes the starter roll, presumably backed by the currently injured Eddie Lack.

 - With this, the Canucks gain a substantial amount of cap space. The trade has the option to bring in a temporary relief for Kesler, a decent bottom 6 forward, a high draft pick, or any combination of those.

But this brings a number of problems to the table, the biggest being that Schneider has never played a full season. 

 - If Schneider is pushed into that roll, he could crack under the pressure and become as useless as Rick DiPietro. The second problem is that Eddie Lack, who would take up the backup position when he recovered from his groin injury, has never played an NHL game. Simply: trading Luongo forces 2 goalies who are good at their level into unfamiliar territory, and could be a disaster.

 - At the same time, a good veteran backup for Schneider could be obtained through that trade, but the market for veteran backups has gotten smaller in recent years.

 Situation 2: Roberto is kept until the season ends, Schneider splits the games with Roberto.

 - My money goes on this scenario. It gives the Canucks 2 expert goaltenders, a massive advantage going into a compressed, travel-heavy schedule. I can't think of another team off of the top of my head that has 2 top tier goalies.

 - One of the biggest problems with this is that Luongo's trade value decreases with every year, and getting something of value for him in a trade is only going to be harder. 

Situation 3: Luongo stays, Schneider is traded.

 - Riots, AV and Gillis chased out of town by fans with torches and pitchforks.