Are Luongo’s Comments After Game 5 Distracting Boston?

Added on Jun 12, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

I am not sure if Roberto Luongo was just happy to have a shut out after a rough two games, or if he had some Machiavellian plan to get inside Boston’s head, but suddenly no one is talking about how poorly he played in games 3 and 4. Yes, Luongo made fantastic saves in ALL the Stanley Cup Finals games he has played in this year but giving up 8 goals in one game is a bad sign for any goalie.

After his game 5 win, Luongo told the media that he would have saved the goal that snuck past Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins, and the media is having a field day with it. “It’s not hard if you’re playing in the paint. It’s an easy save for me, but if you’re wandering out and aggressive like he does, that’s going to happen.” He concluded by saying “I’ve been pumping (Thomas’) tires ever since the series started, I haven’t heard any one nice thing he’s had to say about me, so that’s the way it is.”

Some analysts are saying these comments are putting un-needed pressure on the Canucks, and I just don’t see it like that at all. When the players did their media conferences today after the practice it was all about Luongo, and what he meant. Veteran Goalie Marty Turco is writing a blog on NHL.com, and he feels that it was bad timing for him to make a comment like that. He wrote “He’s under a lot of pressure and for him just saying it you know he’s under a lot of pressure. He really wasn’t thinking about it. It was Louie saying what is on his mind and he probably didn’t think that it might create a little bit of attention that he doesn’t want and they don’t want at this moment.”

Again, I disagree. Much like when the Canucks found themselves on the ropes for the 3rd year in a row versus the Chicago Blackhawks, Coach Allain Vigneault ran to the media complaining all about the referees not calling penalties on the Hawks. This took the attention off the players while he fed the media complaints about the non calls. I think this type of thing can easily be a distraction for the Boston skaters, and if it wasn’t on purpose, it could be one of the smartest things he’s ever done. Turco concluded by saying “I personally don’t think it’s a big deal, I would advise against it at this time of the year, but at the end of the day it affects no one in those locker rooms or how the game is going to play. It may just affect headlines and the fervor of others.”