Roberto Luongo Official Fan Blog

Ok, I will be the first to admit that maybe I was a bit harsh about our humiliating defeat to the Flyers. But, in my defense, he did give up four goals…

In any event, we are moving on, and apparently, so are the Canucks. Thanks to the remarkable defense of his awesomeness Roberto Luongo who managed to have 28 saves (yes!), we Canucks fans can once again hold our head high.

Ok, they recalled Rypien from Manitoba, Roberto’s knee is fine and he is back on track, we whipped the Oilers 5-2; what a set up for a great weekend. Now lets just see how tonight goes…

In tonight’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, The Canuck’s prize goaltender Roberto Luongo has a chance at redemption, after his very disappointing performance in Wednesday’s humiliating loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

In fact, the loss Wednesday was the worst loss the ‘Nucks have faced since they got crushed last year by the Anaheim Ducks. The defeat last November by the Ducks was the last time the Canucks were beaten by more than 6 points.

One thing is for certain: All eyes will be on Luongo, who gave up 4 goals to the Flyers before being pulled out of the game. It was a huge disappointment to us fans, who had such high hopes for Roberto after last year’s incredible performance.

While perhaps our expectations are unrealistic, us fans love Roberto and we love our Canucks. We do not want much… we just want to win! Tonight, lots of us will be watching Roberto on the ice, hoping to see the Canucks do just that; Win!

Maybe he hurt his head and not his knee when he crashed Saturday night. Maybe he was tired. Maybe Roberto Luongo was thinking about his pregnant wife. I have no idea, but one thing is absolutely certain; He was not at his best last night, giving up 4 goals in the first quarter before getting pulled.

While this is only the third game of the season and yes, I know that Philadelphia has been regularly spanking us since we last beat them in 1989. None of that stops the stink from last nights game. It was just a pathetic performance by the whole team. It was almost as if the Canucks decided to just sit back and watch the game instead of play the game.

By the way, this screws the heck out of Roberto’s stats; building them back will take a long time. I just hope we have it and that this was just an unfortunate fluke and that Friday night everything will return to normal when they take on the Edmonton Oilers.

While everyone is excited about the game tonight against Philadelphia, I found this video where Roberto is being interviewed about the new mask he is wearing this year.

In other news, we are all on pins and needles hoping Roberto Luongo’s knee holds out in tonight’s match against Philadelphia. Everyone is saying it is fine, but I know I will feel better when I see him skate onto the ice tonight.

The Florida Panther fans are wanting Starting Goalie Thomas Vokoun’s head on a platter after the last two games, but former Florida Goalie (turned Vancouver Canuck Superstar!) Roberto Luongo has just two words for those impatient fans: Be patient.

Roberto said, “It took me honestly until about Christmas time [last season] to feel comfortable. … He’s a very good goalie. I don’t think two games is going to determine what kind of goalie he is.”

After losing Luongo in what the Panthers are now calling “the worst trade in history“, they drafted Vokoun as a Saviour, but so far, he has been coming up short. The fans are screaming, and now Panther management is screaming too.

Truthfully… Is it to soon to tell? After all, Roberto started out slow and now look at him. What do you think?

In other news, it seems Roberto’s knee is fine, just like we thought. He is slated to start in Wednesday’s game as planned.

We can all breathe a sigh of relief now, but it was a scary night for Canucks fans everywhere. Late in the second period in Saturday’ battle with the Calgary Flames, Roberto Luongo, the ‘Nucks star goaltender and the object of our fascination here on this site, went down in a tangle after the Canuck’s defenceman Aaron Miller pushed Daymond Langkow into Luongo.

He was down for a long time - long enough for the Canucks to send out Curtis Sanford to mind the net, but he eventually got up and was moving around. As of right now everything seems fine. Roberto finished the game, leading the Canucks to a 4 to 3 victory over Calgary.

It was scary though. He is long overdue, with averaging 74 games in the last 3 seasons without missing a start due to injuries. Canucks fans were not the only ones holding their breath: “It’s pretty scary when he goes down, that time especially because it looked like his leg got caught under him. Thank God nothing serious happened to his knee”, defenceman Kevin Bieksa said.

We think so too, Kevin. We think so too. Roberto claims it is luck and nothing else. When asked to explain how he has went so long uninjured, he laughed, said it was luck and then knocked on the wooden bench he was sitting on. I think I am going to go knock on some wood myself…

Roberto Luongo in his Panther Days
Well, no kidding. I saw in the South Florida Sun Sentinel that Florida Panthers General Manager Jacques Martin said in a written report that trading Roberto Luongo to the Vancouver Canucks was the worst trade in history. When asked if he agreed, team captain Olli Jokinen smiled and said “Probably. As far as this franchise, yes. It was shocking. It was a bad move.”

Do you think? However, when asked about it yesterday in a press conference, Coach Martin refused to elaborate, saying it was “old news” and that he thought it was time to “move on”. Instead, he preferred to talk about the Panther’s season opening game against the Rangers.

One more thing I thought interesting was that captain Jokien said they “learned from their mistakes”, so they traded for Tomas Vokoun. “They showed this summer they wanted to clean their mess and got us a goalie that can do the same things Louie was doing here for a long time,” he said.

Hmmmm. Don’t get me wrong here, but isn’t that a bit of a slap at Roberto? And highly optimistic hopes for Vokoun. I guess time will tell if he is right.

Yes! Its true - the man himself, world class, kick butt hockey goaltender Roberto Luongo is having a baby! Well, his wife is, anyway. I first heard about this as a rumor floating around, but now it is official, from the man himself.

Everyone knows that Roberto is notoriously close mouthed about his personal life, so much so that he has been called the “mystery man” by his friends. In this very humorous short interview with The Sports Network’s James Duthie, he reveals his innermost secrets, from his notorious “stomach problems” last season, the real reason why you never see him in shorts, and…(drumroll please!)… that he and his beautiful wife Gina are having a baby!

In a joking reference to his dry-land training in the off season, he admitted (but, only when directly asked) that yes, he and Gina were expecting a child. When asked the due date, Luongo said that right now, the due date is April 2nd.

Of course this is great news for the family, and I wish them all the best and hope everything goes well for them. However, as a fan, looking at the timing, I have to hope this will not interfere with Roberto’s playing in the playoffs…

Apparently, somebody in the Canucks home office is reading this blog! It was just yesterday I told how the supense was killing me…

Well, it’s official! Tuesday, the Canucks unveiled the official Roberto Luongo mask - and it is a winner, folks!

The way Roberto tells the story, back in the summer he spent some time with his brother-in-law fleshing out the ideas he had for the tone he wanted, how it was going to look, etc. Then, he spent some time with Marlene Ross, the celebrated face mask artist (now, there is a gig for you!).

Ross said that many of her clients just want to see some samples, hoping to get inspired, but that with Roberto, it was different. She said Luongo actually saw himself as a designer, not just the client.

In any event, I like it. On the top is what Roberto Luongo called “an angry Johnny Canuck”. (He said he was angry because he has not yet won the Stanley Cup). Also included is the Vancover skyline, previous Canuck logos and a pair of vintage skates. The main thrust is one of the history of the team, one of nostalgia for the past, yet hope for the future.

Also, there will be no pink panther tail on this mask. Since his days in Florida back in 2000 he had always had a pink panther tail on the back of his mask, but no more. When asked about it, Roberto simply said” it is time to move on”.

So, ‘Nucks fans: what do you think of the mask?

A Previous mask done by Ross

The suspense is frikkin killing me. I want to see Roberto Luongo’s new mask… dangit!The artist Marlene Ross has designed a new Helmet for Roberto for this year, and it is supposed to be unveiled soon, possibly this weekend. I was really hoping for it to be unveiled at the Oiler’s game, but noooo. Ross also designed last year’s mask. She is quoted as saying that this year’s mask will really pay homage to the team. So, what does that mean, exactly?

Some people are suggesting that it will have previous team logos, others are saying they have it on “good authority” that it will have the Vancouver Skyline on it, but apparently we will just have to tough it out and wait.

One thing it won’t have is a Pink Panther tail, something Roberto has done since he started playing for Florida back in 2000.

Only ‘nucks fans could get so worked up about a mask… Sad, isn’t it?