HockeyReinventing Luongo? & 30 Thoughts

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Dwayne Roloson remembers his graduation from the NCAA to the NHL with a laugh.

"In college, I was a stand-up, skate-save goalie," he said last week. "When I moved on, I learned quickly that wasn't going to work."

How long did it take to fix?

"Years," he answered.

The numbers are proof. Roloson was almost 25 upon finishing up at UMass-Lowell. Over the next seven seasons, he played just 102 NHL games.

At age 31, he spent a full year in the AHL. Then, he went to Minnesota. Wild goalie coach Bob Mason put the finishing touches on Roloson's revival, molding him into a hybrid-style netminder who knew how to play the angles. (The two men run a goaltending school in the summer.) Now Roloson is the only 40-year-old in the NHL playing this position, and he's one of the best.

In August 2004, Chris Osgood was approaching 32. He'd won a Stanley Cup and played for a decade. That wasn't good enough for him. He sought out a Michigan-based coach named Stan Matwijiw.

"I got a call from Chris the second week of August the summer before the lockout," Matwijiw told The Windsor Star in 2008. "When he first came to me, I was a little unsure about what he was looking for. This was an NHL goalie with 11 years of experience. I didn't know whether he was just looking to fine tune some things, so we talked about it.

"To my surprise, he said, 'I want you to completely tear my game apart and rebuild it.'"

Osgood may have lost the starting job this season, but his willingness to adapt and improve won him a second championship in 2008 - getting him to within a game of a third last year.

That brings us to Roberto Luongo. Thanks to consecutive beatings by the Blackhawks, there is enormous local angst about the Vancouver captain's 12-year contract, which kicks in next season.

But Roloson and Osgood are living proof that you can re-invent yourself.  The good news for Canucks fans is that Luongo has a better base to start with and that he will not be affected much by the new goaltender equipment rules for next season.

In my 30 Thoughts from two weeks ago, I posted critiques from other players about his inability to handle traffic and habit of lunging instead of pushing off. Obviously, those are problems he's going to have to solve. Another I've heard is that his long, gangly body creates big rebounds.

Both Luongo and the organization must do an exhaustive examination into his technique, which is already occurring, I think. Then, they've got to find the Mason/Matwijiw to fix it. Is it the current coach, Ian Clark? Or, is it someone else?

(There was a rumbling that former Canadiens' coach Roland Melanson would be going to Vancouver, but any talk of changes is premature at this point.)

The Canucks have to ask themselves if having Cory Schneider back up Luongo is the best idea. A better fit would be a smart, helpful veteran who knows he's not going to start more than 20 games and is satisfied with that. (I've written several times how Curtis Joseph credited Glenn Healy with a lot of his success in Toronto.) This is not to say Schneider's a bad guy, but when you're 24, you want your chance to play. Martin Biron would be a fantastic fit, if he's ready for that role.

There is another issue Luongo must address - the mental side of the game. Some NHLers who played/coached against him in Florida suggest he thrived in an area where there was much less scrutiny than Vancouver. They believe he isn't relaxed and puts way too much pressure on himself, which is why, when things go badly, some of his exchanges get testy with the media.

Here's the most recent example from this year's Game 6 elimination. Kelly Hrudey criticized him for this, stating the goalie/captain should be saying, "I have to be better."

The way Luongo talks in moments like these reminds me a lot of Mike Weir. Back when I used to cover a little bit of golf, Weir would always blame spike marks, a roughed-up green, etc. for missed putts. I hated that, but a veteran golf writer said Weir's sports psychologist felt it was the best way to prevent him from melting down.

The same approach is not working for Luongo.

Roloson and Osgood have similar personalities. They are edgy, determined guys with an enormous amount of pride. They have an "up yours!" mentality when doubted, and that's meant as a compliment. Both achieved greater success than expected because of their willingness to honestly assess their weaknesses.

There's no reason Luongo can't do the same.

30 THOUGHTS

1) The worst thing about another year of Phoenix Coyote stories is how good people get jerked around. You've got the Jets fans and Mark Chipman one on side. But I really feel for those whose jobs could be affected in Arizona, from team employees to broadcasters. Those are the people who deserve a lot better than another year-long survival watch.

2) One question I haven't heard a great answer to: How many guys want to go to Manitoba? For escrow reasons, they'd want the move, sure. Edmonton is having trouble attracting guys. Would Winnipeg? (I'd be more than happy to go there and cover games, even though it's Scott Oake territory.)

3) Does Montreal's success have anything to do with the fact there are only three French-Canadians on the roster? (Four if you want to stretch and count Benoit Pouliot, who is from Ontario.) Several NHLers from the province go elsewhere because life is too suffocating, but I wonder if players whose families aren't there find it a little easier.

4) Some teammates goof on Mike Cammalleri because he spends a lot of time shooting the breeze with the media, but high-pressured teams need guys like that. Takes the heat off everyone else.

5) Can we put to rest this idea that Darryl Sutter didn't "choose" Cammalleri? The winger wanted to go East and only considered Vancouver because his former agent is Mike Gillis.

6) By the way, Cammalleri said Craig Conroy would make a terrific assistant coach. "He's a positive guy and could run your powerplay."

7) The Canadiens had to wince when they saw Kari Lehtonen get three years and $10.65 million US from Dallas. If he's worth that, what's Jaroslav Halak's value?

8) Watching Game 1, Ryan O'Byrne had an outstanding observation about Chris Pronger: He only skated hard twice all night. (Once, came when a puck hopped by him on a powerplay, the other when his stick broke and he had to chase down Travis Moen.) It's why he can play 30 minutes a night, and not look tired doing it.

9) Brian Burke said Pronger is the quietest-skating big man he's ever seen. Burke also left fake scouting reports in hotel lobbies before the 1993 draft to throw off other teams. (They put Pronger eighth on Hartford's list). "I have no idea if it worked," he said, but he got his man second overall thanks to Ottawa's lust for Alexandre Daigle.

10) Two other notes on Pronger: another opponent says he has the best head-fakes in the game. And, he keeps his weight around 215, so he can be fresher later in the season. By comparison, Zdeno Chara is listed at 40 pounds heavier.

11) Speaking of Chara, the entire Bruins organization must still be dying inside. The worst thing about their Game 7 loss is that there wasn't another one to play two nights later. This one can't be erased all summer and probably not until next year's playoffs.

12) It will be interesting to see how the team handles the aftermath. Claude Julien made it pretty clear that Marc Savard was at fault on the botched line change.

13) Flyers players were stunned at how emotional Ed Snider was in celebrating that win. He had tears in his eyes. Glenn Healy rips this story by saying Snider was crying at the extra $2 million he'd be making every game.

14) On how many teams would Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn be a No. 1 pairing?

15) Timonen was drafted by the Kings in 1993, but didn't show up until five years later in Nashville. He said David Poile approached him at the 1998 Worlds and said, "I think you can play in the NHL. I'm going to give you a shot." Timonen never develops into one of the league's best without that conversation.

16) A Stanley Cup-winning coach looked at Brad Stuart, Matt Carle and Josh Gorges and said, "Who taught those guys in San Jose? He did a great job." The constant was current Toronto assistant Rob Zettler.

17) While still in Washington, Chris Clark told his teammates to recognize that you never know in a salary cap world how long you're going to stay together. That's why you must take advantage when you have a great team. The Chicago Blackhawks clearly understand that. This group really cares about each other and knows it's got only this chance to win together. (Yes, they'll be good enough to win next year, but some popular players may be gone due to cap concerns.)

18) Can't understand why anyone would question the San Jose Sharks. If they were the same old softies, they wouldn't have recovered from the Dan Boyle own goal and wouldn't have beaten Detroit in five. However, they continue to have the same problem - their third and fourth lines are strong enough.

19) Wanted to close the book on Hal Gill's gash: the night Chris Kunitz accidentally cut him, he stayed overnight to have surgery. Doctors wanted to clean everything out to prevent infection and make sure nothing was snapped.

20) The Canadiens can extend Andrei Markov this summer, but there's real risk to it. Never for a second does anyone doubt his skill and desire. The fact he put off surgery to see if he could play on a torn ACL is proof. However, he'll be 32 in December and has now suffered three big injuries in the last calendar year. Fluke or trend? These can be killers for a GM.

21) P.K. Subban's number 76 souvenir T-shirt is has passed Cammalleri and Halak as number one in Montreal. (He was called up too late to get an official jersey made for him.)

22) I was absolutely blown away by some of this story on the Devils by Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger. Text messaging players after a game-day skate to tell them they weren't in that night? Just awful.

23) How much of a breach in protocol is that? I heard one player in this year's playoffs go crazy because he was told (last-second) he wasn't playing by the goaltending coach. I asked Garry Galley and Healy (combined 31 seasons) if this was acceptable and both said no way. An assistant coach should do it if the head man doesn't.

24) Could Blackhawks assistant Mike Haviland be a fit in New Jersey? He's from the area and was picked by the Devils in the 1990 Supplemental Draft.

25) The book on Finnish goalie Jussi Rynnas, signed by Toronto? Same style as Antti Niemi.

26) Tough from several states away to realize if we're reading too much into Dale Tallon's introductory press conference, but it sounds like Stephen Weiss doesn't fit the new GM's mould in Florida. Weiss has a no-move. However, would a guy who really wants to be a winner willing to waive?

27) You know who might look good in Pittsburgh? Paul Kariya.

28) Not certain the Penguins liked Sidney Crosby's outward displays of frustration in the Montreal series. You can never let opponents know they're getting to you.

29) Crosby gets ripped for not moving out of Mario Lemieux's place until now (Joffrey Lupul, for example, did it on twitter). When the Canadiens were imploding off-ice last season, he talked privately about how nothing similar happened to him for that reason.

30) Word is Stephane Veilleux's shoulder surgery was going to be paid for, but the Lightning were waiting to see whether or not insurance would pay for it. Lesson learned for Jeff Vinik: Things that get ignored in the business world make headlines in sports.

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