Tag Archives: goalie

Centre, defenceman and backup goalie top Vancouver Canucks’ wish list

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VANCOUVER - A third-line centre, a depth defenceman and probably an experienced backup goalie are on general manager Mike Gillis's shopping list as the Vancouver Canucks prepare for a shortened National Hockey League season.

Roberto Luongo could have a big say on how those holes get filled.

Gillis could conceivably plug some of those holes by trading Luongo between now and the start of the season, which is expected to begin on or about Jan. 19 after the NHL and its players reached a tentative deal early Sunday to end the 113-day lockout.

There were media reports during the lockout that Gillis and Toronto general manager Brian Burke had a deal in place to trade Luongo to the Leafs. Both Gillis and Burke have denied that any deal is done, but Toronto or Florida seem like logical landing spots for Luongo.

Wherever Luongo ends up, Gillis will be looking for some assets in return to help plug the holes on his roster.

With...

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Centre, backup goalie top Canucks’ wish list

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A backup goalie, a third-line centre and a depth defenceman are on general manager Mike Gillis's shopping list as the Vancouver Canucks prepare for a shortened National Hockey League season.

Gillis could conceivably plug some of those holes by trading goalie Roberto Luongo between now and the start of the season, which is expected on or about Jan. 19 after the NHL and its players reached a tentative deal early Sunday to end the 113-day lockout.

How will the canucks do in a short season?

There were media reports during the lockout that Gillis and Toronto general manager Brian Burke had a deal in place to trade Luongo to the Leafs.

Both Gillis and Burke have denied that any deal is done, but Toronto or Florida seem like logical landing spots for Luongo.

Wherever Luongo lands, Gillis will be looking for some assets in return to help fill the holes on his roster.

With centre Ryan Kesler still...

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Affable Lack on the fast-track to NHL

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There is Eddie’s Meatballs, an NFL fantasy football league team that’s off to a surprising start.

“A Swedish guy with his first fantasy team is 5-1. How embarrassing is that?” chortled the fun-loving Chicago Wolves goaltender.

“There has been a lot of trash-talking, so it’s been a pretty good couple of weeks here.”

There is also the Lack Ness Monsters, towering white goal pads that — when aligned — greet opposition shooters with a huge growling Wolves logo.

“I just got them and I need three of four practices to break them in,” said the gregarious 6-foot-5 stopper. “Maybe I’ll even wear them around the house and to bed. Just joking, I think.”

He’s Eddie the Entertainer, who also tweets and blogs, but most importantly he’s Eddie Lack, the promising Vancouver Canucks prospect who’s proving that his quick wit matches his quickness in the AHL crease. He made 25 saves in a season-opening 1-0 overtime victory over the Rockford IceHogs and will see...

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Rumours start as James Reimer skates with Canucks

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VANCOUVER - James Reimer had been on the ice at UBC's Father David Bauer Arena for no more than a few minutes Monday when the rumours started.

Twitter was abuzz with the fact that Reimer was skating with some of the locked-out Vancouver Canucks and therefore it was only a matter of time before the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie was a member of the Canucks.

Vancouver trades Roberto Luongo to the Leafs, Reimer comes to Vancouver as part of the deal to back up Cory Schneider. Done deal.

"I mean if you want the truth, go to Twitter," a smiling Reimer said of the rumours. "That's funny, I didn't really think of that. I'm sure the rumours will be spreading, but as far as I know when the season comes back I'm still a Maple Leaf."

The truth is, Reimer is in the Vancouver area visiting his in-laws and will likely spend the next week or so skating with some of the...

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Canucks hire Dan Cloutier as goaltending consultant

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Vancouver may have lost some of its love for Dan Cloutier but the feeling was never mutual.

Being forever linked to the Nicklas Lidstrom goal, and mercilessly turned into a punchline, has not been able to erode his adoration for the Canucks or dim his fond memories. Surprisingly, or not, Cloutier relishes every moment he played goal for Vancouver.

OK, maybe not every moment. But that could be a reason why he has the tools to carve out a career as a goalie coach. The Canucks are banking on it. They hired Cloutier earlier this summer, at their prospects camp, and he’s set to help develop their amateur goalies.

You can understand why. It’s not just because he’s affable, thoughtful or the fact he’s only 36, and young enough to connect with 19-year-old prospects. It’s because the guy has been through just about everything.

And if you’re a young netminder wondering what life is like in the so-called goalie graveyard, there can’t...

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Landing in Toronto amidst Leafs’ goalie dysfunction might drive Luongo nuts

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First picture hockey again, then picture Roberto Luongo still a Canuck.

We know it’s a stretch, but play along.

Luongo, playing occasionally behind Cory Schneider, is in a typical early season slump. But this one drifts into late November. He takes to the ice early on some Friday morning, as he’s so often done, repeating drills again and again, trying to find his game.

Fresh off explaining to Keith Ballard why he’s not playing, Rick Bowness appears, jetting on to the ice and straight to Luongo.

At the net, leaning on his stick, Bowness explains to his goalie that him playing deeper in the crease is running counter-intuitive to what he’s trying to do with his defencemen.

If only, Bowness explains, Luongo could unlearn some of the technique adjustments he’s studiously made under Rollie Melanson for the past two seasons.

It seems management has decided, with some help from the media, that Melanson is too stubborn and rigid. He won’t advise his goalies to...

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Canucks GM promises Luongo won’t be given away

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There may not be direct flights from Coral Springs to Vancouver, but there is a U-turn.

Roberto Luongo backed off his honest, edgy, outspoken offseason approach and portrayed himself as a good company man once again when he re-appeared in Vancouver Wednesday at the Canucks’ charity golf tournament.

After being prepped by Canucks’ staff, Luongo declined opportunities to discuss his desire to play in Florida, something he did just a few days ago. He distanced himself from comments he made earlier in the summer. He refused to say whether he’d accept a trade to Toronto, or anywhere else.

He added that if he started the season backing up de-facto starter Cory Schneider it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

Even if you know he could see it from there.

What happened to the player who admitted “it’s time to move on” in July?

“I don’t think there’s any point to being like that,” Luongo said. “It’s not...

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Lack likes look of Canucks’ backup role

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It took Eddie Lack 15 hours to fly to Vancouver, and about 15 seconds to end up in the middle of the Canucks’ goalie bog.

The looming lockout story is making a good run at it, but in Vancouver it still can’t overshadow the dragging Roberto Luongo saga, which gets a jolt every time he’s interviewed. (Lucky, it’s not every time he tweets).

Luongo, who’s still employed by the Canucks, mentioned “Florida” on Tuesday and it was national sports news in Canada. It seems it’s not often a player talks so openly about where he’d like to be traded.

We’re not complaining. But what it should do is continue to underscore the inevitably of the Luongo trade.

Enter Lack, who the media reminded Wednesday would be, at least temporarily, Cory Schneider’s backup if Luongo were traded and the Canucks didn’t get another goalie in return.

The concept is enough to get the jet-lagged Swedish netminder excited, he admitted. He’s even ordered a new...

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Canucks sign Lack, keep Schneider back-up options open

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VANCOUVER — His NHL future might not be quite now, but Eddie Lack’s ascension to the NHL has taken another step.

The Vancouver Canucks goaltender has agreed to a two-year contract extension and the very nature of the deal makes it look like he’ll be afforded another season to hone his craft in the AHL before becoming the backup to starter Cory Schneider. The first year is a two-way deal with a split of $650,000/$85,000 US between the NHL and AHL and the second year calls for a one-way deal at $850,000.

As much as Lack will push for a back-up spot with the Canucks should training camp open and not be scuttled by a lockout Sept.15 over the ongoing collective bargaining agreement impasse, a two-way deal also means he can play in the minors during an NHL labour stoppage and continue his development. It will allow the Canucks to sign an unrestricted free agent veteran to work with Schneider...

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Canucks sign goalie Eddie Lack to two-year deal

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VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks have signed a “soo happy” goaltender Eddie Lack to a two-year contract, the NHL club announced today.

The first year is a two-way deal that will pay Lack $650,000 at the NHL level and $85,000 if he is sent to the minors. In Year 2, Lack will earn $850,000 on a one-way pact.

“We had great conversations with the club throughout the summer and there are a lot of dynamics that come into play, as you know, with Vancouver's goalie situation going forward,” Lack’s agent Kurt Overhardt said. “So I think with the way the deal is structured, it gives the club and the player an opportunity to play him in the minors this year for most, if not all, of the year and allow him to play hopefully upwards of 50-plus games, maybe 60 games.

“It will also enable the club to deal with the goaltending situation that they have in the NHL. It's not...

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With Tim Thomas taking season off, Tuukka Rask ready to be Bruins’ top goaltender

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BOSTON - Tuukka Rask was caught off guard — just a little — when he heard fellow Bruins goalie Tim Thomas decided not to play next season.

Surprised? Yes.

Shocked? Not so much.

"I wasn't expecting him to do that, obviously," Boston's new starting goalie said Thursday at a charity event. "But I really appreciated what he's done and I appreciate his decision to want to be with the family and take some time off hockey.

"It really didn't shock me that much, but I'm more sad to see him leave because we had a really good connection and friendship going on. But I'm sure he's happy now where he is, and gets to spend time with his family."

And so the Bruins — one year removed from winning the Stanley Cup — journey on with Rask in net.

It's not a bad option, of course, just a different one.

Rask, after all, had a 2.05 goals-against average in 25 games last season after posting...

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Luongo shocks the world, states “it’s time to move on” during a CFOX interview

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OK, maybe ‘shock’ isn’t the best word to use, maybe I could have used “confirmed the obvious” but, there it is. Regardless of how obvious it is, though, it is still a news worthy item in that it finally makes it hit home for some fans; Roberto Luongo has played his last game in a Canucks uniform (of course by saying this the Canucks will hold onto him until December just to mess with me, but for all intents and purposes, Luongo’s time is done here). It’s kind of like when you were a kid, and you started having your doubts about Santa. You didn’t want to believe it, but you just couldn’t see how Santa could fit down that chimney, and why he would want to drink room temperature milk. Still, you held onto some sort of faint hope that maybe things would work out where you could have the best of both worlds. Maybe Santa hired...

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