The season is only one week old, and already the city of Vancouver is reaching a boiling point of resentment towards goaltender Roberto Luongo. He has only played a few games and let in a few bad goals, but already the angry phone calls are flooding in to Sportstalk radio. It would seem that the people have not forgotten Lou's embarrassing collapse in last year's playoffs. He's like a Dr.Jeckyl-Mr.Hyde character who is either great or brutal. You can tell when a meltdown is coming because he gets a specific kind of desperate look in his eyes. If cameras zoom in on his face after a goal and his expression is like an 8 year old watching Night of the Living Dead, expect another goal and soon, possibly on the next shot. This is magnified in the playoffs.
Coming off of a Vezina nomination, you'd expect a little more goodwill towards Luongo in this city, but no. He was great in the playoffs against Nashville and San Jose, but had epic meltdowns against Chicago and Boston. That Olympic gold medal was "so" 2010. I don't believe that he deserves this treatment from the fans, but he definitely deserves a fair share of the blame for Vancouver's meltdown against Boston. The Canucks lack of team toughness also played a part, and Tim Thomas was brilliant.
Whether I believe Roberto deserves it or not, the animosity in this city is very real and very palpable. You don't need to spend much time listening to the Team 1040 to understand. It won't be long before the fans are chanting "Boooooooooo" instead of "Loooooooooo".
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