Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo (L) is knocked over by Anaheim Ducks Todd Marchant during the first period of their NHL pre-season hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia September 25, 2010.ANDY CLARK
For more than a decade, Roberto Luongo did things his way and became one of the premier puck-stoppers in the NHL.
But after two consecutive playoff disappointments and an uneven 2009-10 season, Luongo's locker bears an under construction sign given a new style in goal, and a culture change forced upon him by management. The latter has stripped him of some authority, but the former has the potential to sink or sail the Canucks' season.
Luongo, 31, has always been a butterfly-style goalie who aggressively challenges the puck, stationing himself heels out in his crease to cut off shooting angles. That will continue against the rush, but when the Canucks are killing penalties, and when the puck is hemmed into their zone, Luongo will set up almost two feet deeper in his crease.
He'll play between the goal line and three quarters of the way into the blue paint in order to eliminate a weakness that became apparent last spring when, for a second consecutive year, the Chicago Blackhawks bounced Vancouver from the playoffs with a barrage of short-range goals.
"When you get too aggressive and you want to challenge too much, you can't get to those [backdoor]passes, you can't get to those one-timers, you can't get to those rebounds," said new goaltending coach Rollie Melanson, the former Montreal Canadiens assistant who has imposed a more rigid structure.
Greater depth means Luongo will have to track pucks more quickly off the stick, and be fractionally quicker with his limbs. It also means he is less likely to engage with net-front players, such as former Blackhawks power forward Dustin Byfuglien, and must trust that referees will call penalties when he is hit in the crease.
By the end of last year, Luongo was fighting for space with Byfuglien in the low slot, and was vulnerable to bumps, impediments and falls. Though a good athlete, Luongo has a gangly frame that isn't quick to pop-up once flattened.
He was also using a shuffling technique to move laterally, despite size-15 feet that don't evoke Fred Astaire. Now, he'll employ the T-push technique that will theoretically allow him to glide around the crease and cover ground more efficiently.
Going further, Melanson has instituted the Turco grip, named for Blackhawks goalie Marty Turco, which involves an overhand grasp that should allow for firm and accurate passes to either hand. Luongo is not the most adept stick-handler, but the aim is to make him a crisp passer at short range.
Throw it all together, and subtract seven pounds from a summer spent cycling, and Luongo could be less cumbersome in 2010-11.
"I'm trying out a few things that make sense to me, and it's a matter of getting used to them," Luongo said. "As long as I see there's a good result at the end of the line, I'm going to work hard for it."
The Canucks often deferred to Luongo after his arrival in 2006, much of it rooted in a fear that he wouldn't re-sign and that Vancouver's so-called goalie graveyard would continue. But with that concern alleviated- the Montreal native re-upped last summer and is entering the first season of his 12-year, $64-million (U.S.) pact - the Canucks have toughened their stance.
They replaced part-time goaltending consultant Ian Clark, Luongo's preferred coach, with Melanson. They asked Luongo to re-examine his captaincy, which he ultimately handed back. And they told him that young backup Cory Schneider would play 20 to 25 games this season to keep Luongo fresh for the playoffs, even though the hyper-competitive Team Canada backstop thrives on workload.
The shift began last month, when Melanson visited Luongo's Florida home and began implementing the changes. It will take some trial and error, and that bears watching in the early going, because Luongo is an infamously slow starter who has already lost nine periods of preseason work because of a mild groin strain.
But to date, this old dog has rationalized the new tricks, and embraced his political masters with due humility.
"I trust in Rollie, and what he's trying to teach me," Luongo said. "Obviously, he's gotten results out of the goalies he has coached, so there's no doubt on my side about that."