A quick follow-up on Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, who we wrote about this afternoon on PHT. Vancouver’s starting goalie heard a few Bronx cheers last night at Rogers Arena in a 4-0 loss to the Rangers. He didn’t play especially poorly, but the jeers weren’t really about last night’s game. They were about…everything.
Clearly Luongo’s relationship with the fans is on shaky ground. If they were a married couple, they’d be taking separate vacations and telling the kids everything’s going to be fine.
Vancouver reporters were predictably all over the story today, and as a reward for their doggedness they got a great quote out of the man himself. When asked how it felt to be booed on home ice, Luongo replied, “The good thing is it has happened so many times, I’ve gotten used to it.”
Ladies and gentlemen, your Vancouver Canucks. Finished first overall in the regular season. Scored the most goals. Surrendered the fewest. Fell one game short of winning the Stanley Cup. Aaaaaand the starting goalie has grown used to being booed.
That’s not to say the fans are wrong to boo. Nor is it to endorse the booing. It’s more to say…this is a rather bizarre situation, don’t you think?
Some other quotes:
“[Luongo’s] probably harder on himself facing his teammates in the dressing room or the personal pressure he puts on himself to perform than what some minor group of fans might think.” ---- Coach Alain Vigneault
“You always want to do good and you want to be liked. I think that’s how everyone is as a person. When you don’t do that, you get down on yourself. And he’s no different than anyone else.” ---- Daniel Sedin
“It kind of sucks. For a guy who’s done more for this franchise perhaps than any other goalie in the history of the team, you would think he might get a bit of slack or some more leeway.” ---- Cory Schneider
“I think people love pointing the finger in this town when things aren’t going well but it’s part of the business. Everyone’s going to get blamed for losses but unfortunately Louie takes more heat than anyone.” ---- Kevin Bieksa
“You can never get used to it. Maybe, you become tolerant, a little bit. That’s all you can really do. He’s taken a lot of heat over the years and he’s had to learn to deal with it. He knows if he wants to play in this market he has to learn to deal with this. It’s part of the territory. He has a microscope on him. There are mistakes made all over the ice. Coaches can hide the easiest from those, then forwards, then the defensemen. For a goalie, there’s really no hiding.” ---- Bieksa