The Vancouver Canucks cannot seem to put their goaltending woes behind them. After Cory Schneider was traded and Roberto Luongo said he was committed to returning, it looked like the dust had settled on the drama. However, as the Canucks wrap up training camp and being the preseason, questions are once again being raised as to who will be in the net when the season kicks off.
After Vancouver lost to the Oilers, head coach John Tortorella said he did not know who would be the starting goalie for Vancouver. What? Wait a second Torts, Luongo is the starting goalie, right? The veteran is once again struggling with early season games, making Tortorella question whether or not he will be in the net to start the season. He was beat four times on the first 12 shots of the game. He finished with a low 14 saves before getting replaced by Joacim Eriksson. Obviously, Luongo was upset with his performance.
"Obviously I'm not very pleased with the way things went, the good news is it's all little details of the game that can be easily fixed," said Luongo, via the team website. "I've just got to keep working like an animal out there and keep improving every day."
Obviously, it is far too early to panic. Tortorella is likely making this claim to establish a little competition. Luongo might feel that he is guaranteed the starting spot and the head coach is looking to keep players on their toes. Eriksson is vying for a backup spot with Eddie Lack in training camp.
If there was one bright spot in the Canuck's preseason, it is Jordan Eberle. Working to get on the Canada Olympic team, he scored a goal and added two assists against Edmonton. The 23-year old is using the Canucks as his team tryout to get to Sochi in 2014.
"The Olympic team is, obviously a goal," said Eberle. "But with no tryouts, the only thing you can do is play as well as you can in the season. I'm looking forward to [the rest of] this training camp, obviously, and getting some confidence and moving forward to the season. The most I can do is fight my way onto that team and give myself the best option."
The Canucks are winless so far under Tortorella. The early read of the new coach is that he stresses physicality with the players and is a no-nonsense type of guy. One new rule under Tortorella is getting rid of Twitter. He believes social media is "nothing by trouble." Do not expect this to catch on with the players.
