Luongo fed to the Sharks
San Jose skates to a 3-1 victory in Game 1
It was a perfectly Vancouver-esque end of one season and the logical beginning of another.
If it had happened on April Fool’s Day, about the time a normal regular season ends, no one would have batted an eye.
But for symbolism purposes, May Day would do just as well.
Mayday, the international distress signal — derived from the French “venez m’aider” or come help me — was heard clearly, in both languages, by Roberto Luongo on Wednesday morning, when the Vancouver Canucks made the final determination that their No. 1 goalie, Cory Schneider, would be unable to play Game 1 of the post-season against the San Jose Sharks.
Luongo turned aside 25 shots, but couldn’t hold the Canucks in the game after being staked to a 1-0 lead midway through the second period.
Kevin Bieksa was credited with the Canucks score after Raffi Torres scored an own goal at 12:26 of the second.
But the Sharks rallied on goals by Logan Couture, Dan Boyle and Patrick Marleau to earn a 3-1 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-seven first round series.
If you’ve been following the season-long circus in Vancouver, you will not be the least bit shocked. In fact, it was practically guaranteed to happen the minute Luongo found himself still Vancouver property when the trade deadline passed.
Somehow, some way, the fact he was not supposed to be here meant he was bound to figure in this club’s ultimate fate.
What began as a minor “body injury” suffered in Game 46 of the regular season against the Chicago Blackhawks — long assumed to be a hangnail, or a thinly-disguised attempt to rest Schneider and get the accidental Canuck some lateseason mop-up work, just in case — turns out to be more serious than Alain Vigneault’s club, in full playoff “omerta” mode, was letting on.
“Schneids is just not healthy enough right now,” Vigneault said after Wednesday’s morning skate. “We had an idea Tuesday and we told Louie before he left to be ready.
“This morning, when we talked to Schneids before practice, it was a pretty easy decision. I don’t think for our group that having Roberto in goal is a concern. He’s a pretty good goalie.”
To the casual observer, maybe anyone outside B.C.’s Lower Mainland, no doubt this ongoing shaggy dog story seems a little over the top.
“They’re coached by the same goaltending coach, they’ve been together for a number of years, they’ve both played big games — I can tell you the debate over which goaltender is going to start is a much bigger story here in Vancouver than it is in the Sharks’ lockerroom. We’re going to have to beat a good goaltender, either way,” said San Jose coach Todd McLellan.
“I think the media makes more of a big deal of it than we do,” said Sharks defenceman Dan Boyle. “If we had to go with (backup Thomas) Greiss tonight, for example ... I don’t see it changing. I don’t think you change your game plan, with the exception of a goalie that plays the puck a bit more, but in this case, I don’t think it affects them or us in any way.
“It’s not like (Luongo’s) a slouch. I know Lou (they were Olympic teammates), and he’s been going through a tough year, and I’m sure he’ll be as ready, if not more, than anybody on the ice tonight.”
And yet, some combination of Luongo’s career post-season ups and downs, the fact that his last two playoff games were a pair of 4-2 losses last spring in Los Angeles, before Vigneault apparently cast the club’s goaltending future in stone by starting Schneider in Game 3 ... the interminable contract that made Luongo immovable last summer or at the trade deadline, the Canucks’ refusal to eat any portion of his annual stipend to facilitate a trade ... the fact it was the Toronto Maple Leafs that ultimately rejected a deal, the converted touchdown Luongo surrendered behind a porous skeleton lineup in Edmonton in the regular-season finale — and, of course, Schneider’s quite evident readiness to carry the team — have given the story legs all across the hockey world.
And now, he’s back in the playoff crosshairs.
“Well, the way things have been going the last year, I didn’t rule it out, that’s for sure,” Luongo said Wednesday. “Things happen and you don’t always know why, and sometimes you don’t understand them.
“I’m better at facing adversity. Once you’ve been through it many times, you find it easier to pick yourself back up and overcome it. That’s where I’m at right now.
“It’s kind of funny that I’m in this situation, but at the same time, I’m not surprised. I’m excited to be playing a playoff game with this team, and hopefully get a win and move on.
“Right now, I’m looking at the first period. It’s not a bigpicture type of moment.”
But now, the can of worms is wide open.
But then, that’s what the whole season has been.