Thursday, November 29, 2007

Record holding Roberto



After thirty three years Ken Lockett will have to step aside, he’s no longer the record holder in Canucks history books. Lockett who set the career mark for shutouts back in 1975, had a good long run as the Canuck goaltender of note, with 184 minutes and twenty seconds, but as they say records are made to be broken.

Roberto Luongo, rattled off yet another shut out for Vancouver, securing the mark with his third consecutive shut out a 2-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. His latest one, brought his streak of shutout hockey to 193 minutes and 56 seconds, eclipsing his personal best of 182:37 set back in his Florida days of 2004.

His remarkable shutout string has coincided with an amazing run by the Canucks who in the last ten games have gone 7-1-2, a run made all the more impressive considering the injury parade that the team was forced to endure through the month.

Wednesday’s game wasn’t an end to end kind of affair, rather it was a rather plodding inconsistent match not one designed to sell the game as one of constant action. Columbus struggled to find offence in the first and third periods, with five shots each, while the second period proved to be the most challenging for Luongo when the Blue Jackets popped off fifteen shots at him.

Vancouver fired off twenty one shots at Fredrik Norrena, who was in the nets for Pascal Leclaire, who has six shutouts of his own but was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Norrena could not weather a second period swarm(?) when 2 of six shots found the mark leading to the Canucks victory.

Vancouver leaves November quite happy with their turn around, in late October there was much talk about what was wrong with the Canucks, struggling on the ice there were many calls for changes to be made quickly.

No such calls are being made as they head into December, leading the Northwest Division and only six points behind the conference leading Red Wings, they just keep rolling right along playing in front of their record holding goaltender.

A fellow who now holds the new Gold standard for goal tending in Vancouver at 193 minutes and counting…

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