By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

he Canucks have been rolling as of
late, and possess one of the most
impressive records in the NHL

 

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captain, is an incredible goaltender, that

is indisputable. However, the fact that he

seems incapable of improving that area of

his game is astonishing, the fact that he

refuses to even acknowledge that, even

more so.

As David Pratt

perfectly put it on the

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since the beginning of February. However,

they haven’t been without fault, and one

of the areas that is in need of increasing
attention is goaltender Roberto Luongo’s
puck handling abilities, or more accurately,
his lack of said abilities.

Now, when it comes to stopping the
puck, Luongo is one of the best goalies in
the NHL. When it comes to playing the
puck, though, he’s one of the worst, and
that was clearly illustrated last Saturday
when Luongo surrendered one of the
softest goals of the year to Colorado
Avalanche winger Darcy Tucker.

Luongo went behind his net to corral
the puck but bobbled it and sent it directly
to Tucker. Luongo then attempted to
race back to his goal but Tucker banked
the puck off of his equipment and easily
scored. It was an embarrassing gaffe for
Luongo, but as usual, Luongo deflected
criticism off of himself.

“Yeah, I think it’s unfair, I think
everybody makes mistakes behind the net.”
He said in an interview with The Province
newspaper.

Now, Luongo, who is also the team

the other day, Luongo has shown no
hesitation in throwing his teammates under
the bus when things get tough. Last season,
when the Canucks nose-dived themselves
out of the playoffs during the stretch
drive, Luongo threw a hissy fit about his
defensemen and when the media called
him on it, decided not to speak to them for
the remainder of the year unless forced to.

The fact is, Luongo has a history of
blaming his teammates when things go
wrong. If he is to be the captain of the
Canucks for the long haul, then he needs
to learn to accept criticism of his own play
when it’s warranted.

Now, Kevin Bieksa took the blame
for Luongo’s error against Colorado, and
because Vancouver still won the game,
it wasn’t talked about that much. Still
though, Luongo clearly needs to get a hold
on his ego. The great leaders in hockey
aren’t only remembered because they
are great players, they are remembered
because they showed incredible class and
inspired their teams. Great leaders don’t
blame the team and treat the media like
second class citizens.

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