NHL: Player News and Rumors (Thread finished)

TSN.ca's report on the Dvorak signing...

Blues sign Radek Dvorak
TSN.ca Staff
9/14/2006 2:22:40 PM

The St. Louis Blues have signed free agent right winger Radek Dvorak.

"Radek has played in two Stanley Cup Finals and was the Oilers' best player in last year's game seven," said Blues President John Davidson. "He brings good speed to our line-up and will be a great asset to our penalty kill."

Dvorak, 29, has played in 746 National Hockey League games during his 10-year career with Florida, New York Rangers and Edmonton, recording 412 points and 244 penalty minutes.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound forward appeared in 16 postseason games for the Oilers during their run to the Stanley Cup Finals last season.

The Tabor, Czech Republic native was originally drafted by Florida in the first round, 10th overall, in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

Koivu hopes to wait for cataract surgery
Canadian Press
9/14/2006 3:06:15 PM

MONTREAL (CP) - Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu hopes to put off surgery on a small cataract on his left eye until after the NHL season. Koivu, who had surgery to repair a detached retina this summer, said Thursday he is optimistic he will be ready to play the 2006-07 season despite lingering difficulties from an eye injury suffered during the playoffs in April.

The 31-year-old said he was left with a blind spot in his peripheral vision that likely is permanent and then developed a cataract.

"Right now, the doctors think it's in an early stage," he said as the Canadiens completed pre-camp physical exams at the Bell Centre. "I'll try to play with a contract lens, but if it gets worse, then we're going to have to do something about it during the season.

"Obviously, the best scenario would be to get it done at the end of the year, but right now, we're going to wait and see how it will progress."

He said it is common for cataracts to develop after injuries or surgery to the eyes. This one has caused his vision to be "not as sharp as a month and a half ago."

The Canadiens' first line centre, who was examined by an ophthalmologist this week, hopes that wearing a contact lens will give him clear vision until he can have the cataract removed next summer.

He said the eye has been fine in informal skating drills this week, but won't really be tested until he takes part in scrimmages and pre-season games.

"I'll have more answers in a week to 10 days, but if there are no setbacks, I expect to be in the lineup for the first regular season game (Oct. 6 in Buffalo)," he said.

The blind spot will not go away, however.

"The good thing about the blind spot is that it shouldn't get any worse but the bad news is it won't get any better either, so there's nothing we can do about the blind spot," he added. "I just have to get used to it."

Koivu was breaking to the net in Game 3 of a first-round playoff series against Carolina on April 26 when Justin Williams' stick got under his visor and hit his left eye.

He spent two nights in hospital as doctors waited for swelling to go down to diagnose the injury. He later had surgery.

Koivu says he will wear a larger visor this season. "He seems really confident and optimistic and our medical staff is optimistic," said general manager Bob Gainey. "Not to diminish the situation. but I think we should just go let him play and not have a day-to-day update on an injury that happened four or five months ago and where the player will be cleared to play."

The Canadiens begin scrimmages on Friday in the suburbs west of Montreal and play their first two pre-season matches at home on Tuesday and Wednesday, both against Boston.

"The scrimmages will tell us more and then the games," said Koivu. "The big thing is to feel comfortable and not think about the eye."
 

Nightfall said:
Yep there's our Bobby Clarke, embassodor of good will for the Flyers.

And people wonder why Eric Lindros left...
Click to expand...

Ummmm...what?

Two things Nightfall.

First, while I will certainly not suggest Bobby Clarke is a great or even good GM, I will say he made this offer within the confines of the collective bargaining agreement. The other GM's may be saying that's it's moves like these that creates major increases in player's salaries, but he is still confined by a salary cap. I kind of like the ":) :) :) :) them" attitude, and I haven't forgot about the other GM's that did this in the past. Remember when Sakic was signed to the offer sheet to the Rangers, or when Keith Tkaczyk was with the Jets and was offered a front loaded offer sheet by the Blackhawks? A contract that went a long way in nailing the coffin closed on the Jets. Even the Flames got into the act by offering Teemu Selanne a big offer sheet, that the Jets had to match. It's been happening for years, but at least now the league has a system to deal with it.

Secondly, I'll take Clarke over that locker room cancer, and general idiot, Eric Lindros. Most people by now know that Lindros was an moron in Philly, and had a thing for teammates wives. After watching the play-offs last year you should be asking why Rod Brind'amour left, and I can tell you it had a lot to do with Lindros.
 

Connolly still has concussion symptoms
Associated Press
9/14/2006 3:22:26 PM

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Sabres centre Tim Connolly will likely miss the start of the season because he's still experiencing post-concussion symptoms after being hurt during the playoffs.

Sabres general manager Darcy Regier said Thursday that Connolly's condition is gradually improving, but he hasn't been cleared to skate in training camp. Buffalo's first full-team practice will be Friday.

Regier said there's "a good possibility" the play-making centre will open the regular season on long-term injured reserve, which would prevent Connolly from playing in the first 10 games.

"Indications are he's going to get better but the timing of it is still up in the air," Regier said. "Talking to specialists, we knew it was going to require more time and we'll just be patient and wait and see."

Connolly reported for early physicals, but left before reporters arrived at 9 a.m. ET.

He has been out since he was hit with a clean check by Peter Schaefer in the opening minute of Game 2 of Buffalo's second-round series against Ottawa in May.

It is the second serious concussion sustained by Connolly during his six-year NHL career. The first one forced him to miss the entire 2003-04 season.

Connolly's uncertain status is a significant setback for the Sabres, who were confident enough in the player's health to sign him to a US$8.7-million, three-year guaranteed deal in July.

The deal was in part a reward for Connolly, who is coming off a career-best year. He finished fifth on the team with 16 goals and 39 assists and added five goals and six assists in eight playoff games.
 

Flyers name Forsberg captain
TSN.ca Staff
9/14/2006 5:49:47 PM

The Philadelphia Flyers have named Peter Forsberg the 15th captain in team history. Simon Gagne and Derian Hatcher have been named alternate captains.

"I think Peter is the obvious choice for our team," said general manager Bobby Clarke in making the announcement. "Not only is he our best player, but he's also won a Stanley Cup. He's experienced enough to know what the game needs and what the team needs to be a winner. I don't think the selection of Peter was very hard for us to make. We felt all along that he was the right guy, and he'll be a good captain for us.

"He'll be the guy that ends up being the closest to the coach and his responsibility is to his teammates, making sure that if there are problems in the locker room they are taken care of before they get to the coach. If they can't, then he'll be the guy who talks to the coach about it. Leadership is how he conducts himself and performs during the games and during practice.

"It was mostly Hitch (head coach Ken Hitchcock) and I (who made the decision). I know that Hitch talked to the assistant coaches and I talked to Paul (Holmgren). We've talked about it for quite awhile. Right from the start of the summer, we felt that once we heard that he had a chance to be healthy, he would be the guy."

"Clarkie and I both discussed the players and the feeling with all of us is that he is the person right now who wants the responsibility," said Hitchcock. "I've talked to him, and he really feels like that (the captaincy) is part of the evolution of any player. He's learned from people like Joe Sakic and Adam Foote in particular, two of the best. He wants that responsibility. He wants to be the person who establishes the direction of the hockey club post-Keith Primeau. He knows that it's big shoes to fill and he knows the job that Keith did. He feels like he's got tremendous support from the players' leadership group who are his personal friends and are good teammates. He's very confident that with their support and with a willingness to learn, that he's going to be very successful.

"It wasn't an easy decision for me, but I needed to ask the question to Peter if he wanted the job. He thought about it and he said he wanted the responsibility."

"I'm definitely flattered and honored," said Forsberg. "It's definitely something that I have wanted to do. I've played a long time in this league and it's going to be great. We have a great team here and I'm looking forward to being the captain of this organization. It's a classy organization, so I feel great about it.

"It definitely will be a little more responsibility. With Keith Primeau, it was a tough situation and tough decision [with his retirement]. But, on the other hand, it was a tough situation last year. We never knew what was going to happen, and I think it's just good that we do get a captain. But, definitely, it's going to be more responsibility. We have a lot of young guys on the team and hopefully I can help them along.

"Since I came into the league at 20 years old, I had Joe [Sakic] as a captain in Quebec and in Colorado. He was great, and I think I learned a lot from him. I have been playing with a lot of great players and leaders, so hopefully I have learned a few things throughout the years."

Forsberg, 33, is in his second season with the Flyers. He recorded 19 goals and 56 assists for 75 points and 46 penalty minutes in 60 regular season games with the Flyers last season. He was signed as a free agent by the Flyers on August 3, 2005.

Entering his 12th NHL season, Forsberg has registered 235 goals and 581 assists for 816 points and 590 penalty minutes in 640 regular season games with the Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche and the Flyers.

He was a member of both Avalanche Stanley Cup Championship teams in 1996 and 2001 and has represented Sweden at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games, 1996 World Cup of Hockey, 1998 World Championships, 1998 Winter Olympic Games, 2003 World Championships, 2004 World Cup of Hockey and 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

Forsberg was originally drafted by the Flyers in the first round (sixth overall) of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. His rights were traded by the Flyers, along with Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall, a first round pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, $15,000,000 and future considerations in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, to Quebec in exchange for the rights to Eric Lindros on June 30, 1992.
 

Oilers begin camp with more firepower
Canadian Press
9/14/2006 6:03:26 PM

EDMONTON (CP) - The new-look Edmonton Oilers began training camp Thursday with no Chris Pronger but a lot more firepower.

And they're going to need it because the NHL Western Conference champion with the oil drop on its front now has a target on its back.

''Every team is going to be ready to play us and there's going to be no easy games. We'll have to come out focused and ready to play,'' said captain Jason Smith while his teammates went through physicals and photo sessions at the University of Alberta before heading north to Grande Prairie for the first few days of camp.

The team that pushed the Carolina Hurricanes to the seventh game of the cup final will begin the new campaign with a third of their lineup now playing somewhere else. Gone are Pronger and defensive standout Jaroslav Spacek. In are goal-scorers Joffrey Lupul and Petr Sykora.

Centre Shawn Horcoff said the team now has enough scoring talent over three lines to take the game to opponents the way the Hurricanes' third line of Doug Weight, Andrew Ladd and Ray Whitney took it to them in the finals.

''The kind of aspect we're looking at this year is really trying to put a lot of offensive pressure and play more in that zone,'' he said.

But the blue-line still has a six-foot-six 220-pound gap to fill. Pronger was the main reason the Oilers went deep in the playoffs. He played 30 minutes a night, shut down the opposing offensive stars and led the team in post-season points.

His unexpected trade demand - for family reasons, he said_ just days after the cup final put an ice-cold chill on any post-playoff warm and fuzzies in the Alberta capital.

He was shipped to the Anaheim Ducks to begin what became a jailbreak of some of the team's best and brightest.

Smith said the defence will adapt, ''whether it will be one guy that will step up and play a lot more minutes or whether it will be by committee.''

Buffalo and Carolina, he noted, had success without one dominant blue-liner.

Winger Ryan Smyth shrugged off the fact some oddsmakers have them as a longshot to finish what they started last spring.

''We believe in our locker-room that we were there for a reason last year,'' he said. ''We gained so much experience out of that run, knowing what it takes to get to the finals.''

After an inconsistent regular season, the Oilers came from way back in the playoff pack to take the Hurricanes to the limit.

But the team that began last year with solid defence but questionable scoring and goaltending now finds one year later the situation is the reverse.

With Lupul coming over from the Anaheim Ducks in the Pronger deal, the Oilers' top two lines appear set. Horcoff, who had a career year last season (22 goals and 73 points) centres Smyth and Ales Hemsky on the top line. Jarret Stoll is expected to line up between Lupul and Sykora on the second unit.

Hemsky, Horcoff and Stoll all had breakout years last season while the crease-crashing Smyth led the team with 36 goals. Winger Fernando Pisani, a solid two-way forward in the regular season, caught fire in the playoffs with 14 goals in 24 games.

The defence corps better come with name tags for the first few days.

It will be led by veterans Smith and Steve Staios along with Matt Greene, young Ladislav Smid (from the Pronger deal), free agent Daniel Tjarnqvist (signed from Minnesota) and Marc-Andre Bergeron.

In goal, last year's playoff hero Dwayne Roloson appears to have recovered from the knee injury that knocked him out early in the Stanley Cup final. Jussi Markkanen is expected to be the backup.

It was a crowded departure gate at the Edmonton International Airport this summer.

After Pronger left, Spacek signed with Buffalo and Dick Tarnstrom left to play in Europe.

Up front, the Oilers lost Mike Peca (signed with Leafs) tough guy Georges Laraque (signed with Phoenix), fleet winger Sergei Samsonov (signed with Montreal), and forward Radek Dvorak (signed with St. Louis).

On the plus side, the first Oiler Stanley Cup appearance in 16 years means fan interest has become insatiable. The team has sold out its 13,000 season-ticket packages and faced such demand for some of the smaller packages, it had to hold a lottery.
 

Senators going with blue-collar approach
Canadian Press
9/14/2006 4:58:06 PM

OTTAWA (CP) - The Ottawa Senators learned the hard way last year that it takes more than talent to win the Stanley Cup, so they're taking a different approach into the upcoming NHL season.

"I think some of our players found out that talent alone doesn't do it," Senators coach Bryan Murray said as the Senators went back to work Thursday morning for the first time since their second-round playoff exit last spring. "(This year) it's more of a blue-collar approach."

After the talented team fell short of expectations and failed to make it past the second round for the eighth time in nine seasons, there was more off-season movement in Ottawa this summer than in previous years.

That meant camp opened at Scotiabank Place without some familiar faces - key contributors such as Zdeno Chara, Martin Havlat and Dominik Hasek - and some questions for Senators general manager John Muckler.

At the top of the list: is Ottawa better than a year ago?

"I don't think we can answer that," Muckler said while 47 players were put through fitness evaluations and other off-ice testing before they hit the ice for the first time on Friday morning.

Ottawa opens its exhibition schedule with a neutral-site game Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Halifax.

"I like our team," said Muckler. "We have a different look than before. Are there question marks? Sure there are."

How the Senators will replace Chara is probably the one being asked most often.

The six-foot-nine defenceman and former Norris Trophy finalist bolted for Boston and a five-year, $37.5-million US contract with the Bruins as an unrestricted free agent this summer.

While some critics will argue that the Senators' second-round loss to a less-talented but quicker and harder-working Buffalo Sabres team exposed weaknesses in Chara's game, his absence robs the Senators of arguably the game's best shut-down man.

Another regular on the blue-line, Brian Pothier, signed on with the Washington Capitals.

In their place, the Senators inked Joe Corvo from the Los Angeles Kings and picked up Tom Preissing from the San Jose Sharks. They're hardly big names, but they're mobile and can move the puck.

"There's no question Zdeno Chara played against all the star players and first-line players on other teams. He was a unique player," Murray said. "We do have guys that can step in. It's more of a committee."

Added Muckler: "We had Chara here, who ate up 35, 38 minutes a game. Now with fifth and sixth defenceman, say (Anton) Volchenkov and Preissing and Corvo, they'll all get more ice time. It'll be more balanced."

Up front, the Senators won't have Havlat after he and centre Bryan Smolinski were dealt to Chicago in the three-way deal that brought Preissing to Ottawa. Vaclav Varada also wasn't re-signed.

Muckler, who was felt it was time to deal Havlat after he refused to sign an extension that would keep him in Ottawa beyond this season, said the Senators survived a long spell without Havlat in the lineup last year because of a serious shoulder injury and can get by without him again. Chicago thought enough of him to give him a US$18-million, three-year deal.

"If you look at the (last) regular season, we won't miss him because we never really had him," Muckler said. "He's got great skill but he hasn't reached his potential."

The Senators have never been known for their depth at centre and gave up their No. 2 pivot in Smolinski. They signed Russian prospect Alexei Kaigorodov on the eve of training camp with an eye to taking up that spot.

Hasek's departure left the Senators without a bona-fide No. 1 goaltender. Ray Emery inherited the role after Hasek went down with an injury at the Olympics in February and played well down the stretch and in the playoffs, but his lack of experience also led to the Senators spending $11.1 million US to sign Martin Gerber to a three-year deal.

The 32-year-old was great in the regular season with Carolina last year, but eventually lost his job to Cam Ward during the Hurricanes' run to the Stanley Cup.

Muckler said complacency was his team's ultimate downfall last year. The Senators were anything but that in the off-season and their hoping it pays off this time around.

"I think we have a little more depth than last year," Muckler said. "Bryan has more flexibility and I think that probably, as he said, we'll go to a blue-collar type of team and that means that he'd use all four lines and all of the people he has on the roster. Last year, we had a tendency to maybe go to our strengths rather than use everybody."
 

Raycroft likes hockey buzz in T.O.
Canadian Press
9/14/2006 5:41:29 PM

TORONTO (CP) - Andrew Raycroft was happy to see former Boston teammate Hal Gill when the Toronto Maple Leafs opened their NHL training camp Thursday.

"I'm going to let him get lost first," Raycroft kidded as he felt his way around Ricoh Coliseum.

The Leafs' new No. 1 goaltender and towering defenceman Gill were merely two of many new faces. There was veteran centre Mike Peca and Czech defenceman Pavel Kubina, too.

Gone are Tie Domi, Ed Belfour, Eric Lindros, Jason Allison and Aki Berg as the rebuilt Leafs look to get back to the playoffs they missed last spring.

The newcomer most Leafs fans will be watching the closest will be Raycroft. They'll want to want if he's the Calder Trophy winner of 2004 or the slumping goalie the Bruins gave up on last season.

"Last year things didn't go the way I wanted so I've got incentive to do better," said the 26-year-old native of Belleville, Ont. "You have something to prove every year.

"It's a new city, new everything. I've got a clean slate. I've worked hard for the last three or four weeks and I'm feeling comfortable on the ice. (Friday) when we get on the ice with the coaches, that's when you know summer is over."

Some Leafs fans consider installing Raycroft as No. 1 is a gamble. He dodged the concept.

"I don't play poker," he said. "I don't mind a little bit of blackjack once in awhile but I'm not a gambler."

A nagging leg injury bothered him last year, but that's in the past.

"Everything is healthy and I'm good to go," he said.

Intense scrutiny in a hockey-mad metropolis won't bother him, he says.

"It's nice to have this much buzz going into training camp," he said. "In Boston, at this time of year everybody in the past everybody was into the Red Sox battling to get to the World Series and our camps didn't get as much attention as this."

He has more time for the media than did predecessor Ed Belfour. This, of course, could change quickly should he lose soon and lose often, but he doesn't plan on doing that.

GM John Ferguson suggested the team could start the regular season with three goalies. J.S. Aubin and Mikael Tellqvist will be competing for the backup job and the club's top goaltending prospect, Justin Pogge, already is tabbed to be No. 1 with the AHL Marlies.

Peca has never been shy to deal with the media, and he was at his best on the opening day of camp. He was smiling, joking around with reporters, and generally loving every minute of his first day at camp with the NHL team in his home city.

"I know what it's like," he said of the media attention in Canada's largest city. "As you'll find, I have no problem with it."

Meanwhile, the team announced the signing of forward Matt Stajan to a $1.75-million, two-year deal. Stajan had 15 goals and 12 assists last season.

"I'm just glad to get it done so I can concentrate on training camp," said the 22-year-old native of neighbouring Mississauga.

He's up to 200 pounds now that he's added some muscle.

Stajan, Alex Steen (18 goals) and Kyle Wellwood (11 goals) are three young players Ferguson is counting on to up production.

Some Grade-A goaltending from Raycroft would help at the other end of the ice.
 

Tanguay did homework on Iginla
Canadian Press
9/14/2006 6:09:19 PM

CALGARY (CP) - Alex Tanguay didn't wait for the Calgary Flames' training camp to start learning about Jarome Iginla.

The 26-year-old forward did homework over the summer by asking Calgary's coaching staff questions about Iginla and watching tape of the Flames' star in action.

''I'm going to try to use certain assets of his game to hopefully enhance his play and enhance his scoring if we play together,'' Tanguay said Thursday. ''We're going to be looking for each other that's for sure.''

The Flames' main camp opens Friday at the Pengrowth Saddledome. The buzz is the Tanguay-Iginla combo and what it can do to beef up a team that was the best team in the league defensively, but among the worst offensively last season.

That was the reason the Flames dealt defenceman Jordan Leopold to Colorado for Tanguay at the NHL draft in June and subsequently signed Tanguay to a US$15.75-million, three-year contract.

Iginla, twice the NHL's scoring champ, saw his production drop off last season to 35 goals and 32 assists.

The arrival of Tanguay gives Iginla a talented set-up man or takes pressure off him should Tanguay end up on another line.

''I'm a winger and I like to shoot the puck. I'm not going to lie,'' Iginla said. ''So it's exciting to hear that he's going to feed me, but I plan on trying to get him a few back and return some favours too.''

Iginla has also taken matters into his own hands in the off-season by changing his training regime to streamline his body and shed about 10 pounds in mass.

''It's the new rules. I don't think strength is as important as speed and agility is,'' Iginla explained. ''The old NHL, before the rule changes, I think a big part of it for my game was in the corners and trying to outmuscle defencemen and some defencemen were very strong.

''It's not as big now. I think the focus is more on speed now.''

Iginla didn't feel the need to do homework on Tanguay after years of playing against him in the league's Northwest Division.

''He scored a lot of nice goals against us and beaten us in a lot of ways,'' Iginla said. ''Our teams needs that. We need a bit more creativity.''

Tanguay contemplated the possibility of switching from wing to centre to play alongside Iginla.

''I've played maybe, over the course of my first six years in the NHL, a maximum of 10 or 15 games at centre,'' he said. ''It's something I'm unfamiliar with, but if I have to play centre, I'll play centre no problem.''

Tanguay, who had 29 goals and 49 assists for the Avalanche last season, wasn't concerned the Flames' defence-oriented style under head coach Darryl Sutter last season would hamper his style.

''Last year I played with Brett McLean and Ian Laperriere, who weren't known as offensive threats before and I still managed to put points on the board,'' Tanguay said. ''I don't think your defence should restrict your offence and the better you play defensively, the more you are going to have the puck.''

The Flames underwent physicals Thursday and open main camp Friday with all key players under contract.

Jim Playfair, who was promoted from assistant to head coach when Sutter stepped aside to focus on his managerial duties, said not to expect to see the pairing of Tanguay and Iginla on the first day of camp.

''(The rookies) have been here for a long time working really hard amongst their peers,'' he said. ''For us, it's about making sure those same players have a chance to be around the veteran players and find out there is another pace.

''It's more important right now to blend the groups together as opposed to starting picking and choosing lines.''

Defenceman Rhett Warrener is due to arrive Friday and winger Darren McCarty on Saturday and their lateness is due to ''personal reasons,'' according to the team.

Notes - Tanguay says he has gone back to wearing No. 40, which he wore his first couple seasons with Colorado before switching to No. 18. Flames forward Matthew Lombardi wears that number . . . Calgary's first pre-season game is Sunday against Florida.
 

Luongo aims to change Canucks culture
Canadian Press
9/14/2006 10:25:50 PM

VANCOUVER (CP) - Roberto Luongo has read some of the names etched on the tombstones in the Vancouver Canucks goaltender graveyard.

The list includes Dan Cloutier, Alex Auld, Kevin Weekes, Johan Hedberg, Bob Essensa, Garth Snow and Felix Potvin.

These ghosts of goaltenders past weren't haunting Luongo Thursday as he prepared for his first NHL training camp with the Canucks.

''I know what I can do and I'm here to do my job,'' said the 27-year-old Montreal native. ''I can't help what happened here in the past.

''I'm very serious about the way I work and the way I play. I'm here to do my best and help this team get a Stanley Cup possibly.''

The Canucks spent the morning doing medicals and fitness testing at GM Place. Players and coaches then boarded a bus in the afternoon and headed for the B.C. interior town of Vernon where camp will be held until Monday.

Later Thursday, Vancouver matched Ryan Kesler's offer sheet and re-signed the centre to a new contract after the Philadelphia Flyers extended a US$1.9-million offer to the 22-year-old on Tuesday.

When Vancouver missed the playoffs last spring, general manager Dave Nonis tore the team apart. Acquiring Luongo from Florida in a blockbuster trade that sent winger Todd Bertuzzi, Auld and defenceman Bryan Allen to the Panthers was the foundation in rebuilding plan. Cloutier was later traded to Los Angeles.

''You know you have a piece of the puzzle you can build from,'' said Vancouver assistant GM Steve Tambellini.

''When Roberto became available to us the decision was made quite quickly that we were going to do what it takes to get this piece in our organization.

''We told Roberto we are going to work with him and build this team from him out. Our job now is to make sure we have the right supporting crew with him.''

At six-foot-three and 205 pounds, Luongo is an imposing figure in goal. In 75 games with the Panthers last season, he had a 35-30-9 record with a 2.97 goals-against-average, a .914 save percentage and four shutouts.

Having him on the team provides a sense of security the Canucks lacked in the past.

''He has the ability to steal a game every night,'' said centre Brendan Morrison. ''Having him back there is going to supply the rest of the team with a little more confidence.

''He's intimidating. When you look at him, there isn't a lot of net to shoot at. He gets in the head of opposing shooters and that gives us a leg up right away.''

New head coach Alain Vigneault hopes to reduce Luongo's workload this year, playing him in between 65 and 70 games.

''I think that's a good number for us as far as getting him fresh and sharp in every game and making sure he's ready come the playoff games,'' said Vigneault, who replaced the fired Marc Crawford.

Luongo said making sure he has gas left in his tank for the post-season will be important.

''In Florida I played a lot of games and faced a lot of shots,'' he said. ''That was taxing for me and my body.

''We are in a different situation here. The main thing is once the playoffs roll around, I'll be fresh and ready to go and not be tired.''

It's not a given the Canucks will return to the playoffs.

Acquiring Luongo gives Vancouver the elite goaltender the team always wanted. But losing players like Bertuzzi, Anson Carter and Ed Jovanovski has also resulted in the Canucks giving up a lot of offensive punch.

Luongo isn't worried the pressure will be on him to win a lot of 2-1 and 3-2 games.

''If we look at the teams we had in Florida the last few years we were always looked at as one of the lowest scoring teams,'' said Luongo. ''That's not something that is going to affect my play.

''I think we have a lot of guys with skill and who can score goals.''

The post-season is also unknown territory for Luongo.

He has never played an NHL playoff game, but has proven on the international stage he can perform under pressure. He played on the Canadian team that won the 2004 World Cup and captured back-to-back gold medals when he starred in net for Team Canada at the 2003 and 2004 IIHF world championships.

''In talking with Roberto, he feels he has a lot to prove as far as him being a winner in this league,'' said Vigneault. ''He's ready to go.''

Luongo said he will use training camp to get to know his new teammates and work on technique.

He admits the early part of the season will be an adjustment for him as he adapts to the style and players in the NHL's Western Conference.

''In the Eastern Conference, I knew most of the guy's tendencies, what they like to do on the ice, where they like to shoot,'' Luongo said. ''It's going to take a little bit of a while. The good thing is we play a lot of exhibition games. I get to see a lot of those teams and a lot of those players.''
 

Remove ads

Top