In defense of Roberto Luongo

NHL.com is irritating the holy living snot out of me.



Why is it, every freaking time, Roberto Luongo gets treated like the orphan stepchild of NHL goalies?? Hmmmm???? Does anyone have a clue????



Throughout the year, Luongo's taken plenty of hits. He has. And not just on the ice, my imaginary reader, oh no. He's taken crap in press articles, in interviews, in commentary from other players. If there's a Goals Of The Week reel on NHL.com, a goal scored on him will be on it. But are any of his saves on the Saves Of The Week? No. NO. Of Course not. I, for one, am SICK of it.



Roberto Luongo is awesome. He really is. Not only is he a damn fine goalie, but he's also the captain of the Vancouver Canucks. And while most goalies can stay in their crease and focus on their game, Luongo has to do that while keeping his team on track. He's got to keep players like Shane O'Brien from climbing over the wall to the opponents' bench and wreaking havoc with the opposing team. Not to say that I don't like O'Brien; I do. He's a hoot as well as a kick-ass player. But imagine trying to keep that guy under control....



Luongo owns every single loss and redirects every single win back to his teammates. And yeah, okay, with a few notable exceptions, this is a common practice among NHL players. But he does it. And we all know there are games won solely on the strength of the goalie. Halak and the Montreal Canadiens are beautiful examples of that in the playoffs this year. Luongo doesn't try to shift blame or dodge the bullets fired at him; he takes it and he does his level best to move on.



And what is this crap about his "inability" to win big games??? Come on!!! He is THE biggest reason that his country handed my country its ass during the Olympics this year.



What's that, my imaginary reader? Sidney Crosby? Oh yes, Sid the Kid made some lovely goals. Um...was Sidney in the first game? You know, the one the US won against Canada??? Oh, that's right. He was. Was Luongo?



No. He wasn't.



This is not to say that Martin Brodeur isn't an amazing freaking goalie. Martin Brodeur is a rockstar. But when it comes down to brass tacks, it was Luongo who was the winning goalie for Canada in 2010. It was Luongo who defeated his own Canucks teammate, Ryan Kesler. It was Luongo who made it happen for Canada.

I will say it again, imaginary friend. Roberto Luongo is awesome. And if anyone has anything else to say about him, that foolish person can just come talk to me.

Now, get off his back, NHL.com.