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| Above: Toronto almost making the playoffs. |
Nearly as soon as the lockout ended, the Roberto Luongo saga picked up right where it left off. Now if you ask me, Toronto is the one team in the league that is in the biggest need for a solidified starting goalie other than Long Island, but that goes without saying. By no surprise, there have been countless rumors of a possible deal being worked out that would ship Roberto to Toronto. Now I can't confirm or deny the legitimacy of these ripples, however, I am fairly certain that Luongo won't be a Canuck for much longer. He has even said himself that he is ready to move on, stating that he doesn't want to get in the way of young goalie Cory Schneider's ability to help the team and develop into a star.
Rumors have also surfaced that Philadelphia is interested in acquiring Roberto Luongo, but such rumors have since been shot down by General Manager Paul Holmgren. I guess he realizes, like I do, how incredibly stupid it would be to add another goalie to a team that already has a starter and a capable back-up. *cough*Tebow*cough*. Now, it's probably not too much of an argument that Ilya Bryzgalov is better at his job than Mark Sanchez is at his, but for some reason, people insist on making Bryzgalov out to be the source of everything wrong in Philly. Which, there's really not too much wrong in Philly.
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| Brian Burke, likely pissing someone off, while almost making the playoffs. |
For those of you who don't know, the Toronto Maple Leafs fired their general manager, Brian Burke, just a few days ago, replacing him with Dave Nonis. There has been speculation that this Lunogo business is one of the several factors that led to Brian Burke's demise. Some say Burke didn't want to pursue Luongo while the rest of the team's ownership did, and some say it was actually the other way around. At first glance, this leads me to believe that both ideas are bullshit, because their contradictory nature effectively cancels them out in my mind. Other popular theories as to why he was dismissed include his conflicting views with ownership, his occasional unprofessional manner, and his frequent disputes with media. Oh, and Toronto hasn't made the playoffs since the lockout. The 04-05 one..
The big question here is "why now?" What in the world made Toronto ownership wait until ten days before the start of a season to kick Brian Burke to the curb? Actually, now that I think about it, maybe it does make sense that he was against the whole Luongo thing. I'm sure Toronto doesn't want to enter an abbreviated season with a talented but inexperienced starter in James Reimer, and a back-up minder, Ben Scrivens, who you've probably never even heard of. Maybe Burke's supposed opposition towards a trade for Luongo was the final straw for an ownership that was already growing tired of him. With things getting frantic before the start of the season, perhaps Toronto's ownership and management are really pushing for Luongo, and the only way to get him now was to dump Burke.. now.
Maybe I'm fishing a bit, but I think it's possible that Luongo could have played a pretty big role in the firing of Brian Burke. It will be a very interesting story to watch develop over the next few days, particularly because of this little fun fact I'm about to sprinkle on you. You know how they say history repeats itself? Well back in 2004, after Brian Burke was let go as general manager of the Vancouver Canucks, he was replaced by Dave Nonis, the same guy that just replaced him again on Toronto. And what is Dave Nonis most remembered for doing in Vancouver? Making a trade to acquire star goalie Roberto Luongo.
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| Dave Nonis, hell bent on repeating history, in preparation to almost make the playoffs. |
Photo credits: Steve Russell, Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images, Reuters/Mark Blinch
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