Roberto Luongo and his journey into the Stanley Cup Finals 2011
There’s has been a long break for both teams ahead of the Stanley Cup Finals. Roberto Luongo, goalkeeper of Canucks, was coming under heavy criticism for his major drop in form. He has to seriously reflect over his journey into the Finals this season.
At one stage of the season, which was during the first round against Chicago Blackhawks, he was out on the bench during Game 6. With the weak performances that he showed during the fourth and fifth games of the series, he was pulled out of the team.
Hawks successfully made their way back into the series and levelled it on 3-3. At that time it appeared that they would win, but Canucks came up with just enough to take the game into overtime and notch up the win.
Luongo was left on the bench for game six of the series but was soon brought back into the game, replacing the goalkeeper who suffered from a cramp.
The game ended in a defeat for Canucks and levelled the series on 3-3.
The final game proved to be a win for Canucks but it was hard fought. The game was level on 1-1 at the end of regulation time but Luongo was able to carry the team on his shoulders and won the game for them 2-1 in the end.
"Sometimes that's what it takes to put things in perspective a little bit", he said. "That could have easily went sour. If I show up for that game and I'm not in the right frame of mind and we lose, all of a sudden things are a lot more chaotic. I heard
(Tampa Bay goalie) Dwayne Roloson say you've got to have amnesia in this game, so that's what it's all about. You've got to forget quick".
He has been in dominating ever since that time and has piled up some superb results, piling up the best results of his career.
In doing so, he was also able to win the first Conference title in his 11-year National Hockey League career.
Canucks and its goalkeeper will be hoping that the team plays the way that it has in the past couple of games as they attempt to lift the Stanley Cup.
"Five-on-five we are pretty equal as teams, we're both good defensively, so special teams are going to be huge", Canucks forward, Daniel Sedin, said. "If our power play can be better than theirs, it's going to win us some games".
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