Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Will Schneider Be Another Victim Of The Goalie Graveyard?

With the Canucks season on the line tomorrow night, many Canucks fans and some media member have started to look forward to possible changes in the off-season. Other than a possible change behind the bench, the topic garnering the most discussion is which goalie is leaving. If you follow Jason Botchford and Tony Gallagher of The Province, you are aware that they feel strongly that Cory Schneider is going to remain a Canuck into the future. As a huge Schneider fan, that's music to my ears. I can't imagine Luongo and Schneider co-existing going forward but what the hell do I know? Luongo to Tampa Bay makes a lot of sense but that's a topic for another day.

Cory Schneider is extremely popular in Vancouver. I haven't seen or heard a negative word about him since arriving on the scene here. He says all the right things, he carries himself like a seasoned veteran and oh yea, he's pretty good at stopping the puck. What's interesting is a lot of Canucks fans feel that eventually the core of the fanbase will turn on Schneider, like many have on Luongo. While it is possible, I don't see it happening.

Roberto Luongo was brought to Vancouver by Dave Nonis with the hype of him being one of the best goalies in the world following him. That's a lot of pressure and expectations, coming to a hockey mad market. With that being said, Luongo has been a great goalie for the Canucks in the 6 seasons he has been here. Off the ice, he lost some fans in the first few years by occasionally throwing teammates under the bus and not taking responsibility for soft goals.  During the playoffs, he has shown brilliance, like game 7 vs Chicago and his 2 shutouts in the SCF. He has also had a few memorable meltdowns. So, although Luongo has done a lot of good, a large portion of the fanbase choose to remember the bad stuff for whatever reason.

Cory Schneider was drafted by the Canucks, unlike Roberto Luongo, Dan Cloutier, Garth Snow, Felix Potvin or Kirk Mclean. The fans have fallen in love with Schneider from the very beginning. He is one of our own. His Vigneault and Burrows impressions have been universally praised....ok that's a bit of a stretch. Schneider didn't arrive from another city with the hype of being one of the best in the world. Schneider has been outstanding in his limited time in the NHL. He has earned the rep that he has. He comes across warmly in his interviews, which Luongo didn't do in his first couple years here. Unless his career goes into an ugly downward spiral, I can't imagine the fans turning on him.

Of course, I never would have imagined the Canucks being down 3 games to none against the Kings....

3 comments:

  1. I can't read more than 140 characters.

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  2. Nice work b...now go put on some pants you 'pretend media' hack - D. Taylor

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  3. You make some good points about Schneider being drafted by the Canucks. I just think after he lets in a few so-called McSofties, and EVERY goal lets those in on occasion, the Canuck fans could turn on him too. I guess in fairness to Canuck fans, one of the reasons this is a goalie graveyard is that, in our 40 year history, most of our goalies have sucked. People can bash Luongo all they want but he has been the best ever goalie to wear a Canucks' jersey.

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