Well 4-5 weeks will definitely hurt, but its a lot better then 4-5 months.  Sandford and Scnieder should be able to hold the fort in the meantime.  I don’t have too much faith in Sandford, but Scnieder has been terrific as of late.  Being the number 1 goaltender in the AHL at the moment posting a record of 10-1 is a nice confidence booster for him. As long as the Canucks don’t make consistent blunders, we should still be alright to contend for a playoff spot 5 weeks from now.

Posted by Luongo-is-my-hero on 11/24/08 at 03:59 PM ET

Definitely better than 4-5 months, but I think it’s premature to even guess how long—or short—his recovery will be.  Groin injuries are hard to predict, especially for goalies.

But I think the Canucks can survive, too,  as I wrote earlier today. 

Plus one of the bright spots in this is a chance to see Cory Schneider get a game. He’s been on an amazing streak in Manitoba.

Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 11/24/08 at 04:10 PM ET

Ouch! Four to five weeks. That really hurts (no pun intended).

I must say I have have to admire the way you all take things so easily over here in Canucks World. Over in Wings Land, Ozzie missing one easy stop is just cause for major stress, prolonged bitching & moaning, and lots and lots of drinking. But when you start out the season thinking you’ve got about one chance in five of just making the playoffs, I guess all of the good play so far has made you all a bit, well, you know, confused.

But I’m sure the Wings will help you climb back down to the real world after tonight.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 11/24/08 at 04:29 PM ET

Team 1040 is saying they talked to Lupien and he claims he never said it.

Posted by the sieve from the bovine city on 11/24/08 at 05:01 PM ET

OlderThanChelios— God, I think I’d trade both potential wins against the Flames later this week for just beating the Wings tonight. You fans are the cockiest s.o.b’s ever...!

the sieve— I’m listening to 1040 now but I missed that.  It’s a serious accusation if Lupien is saying that, though—that would seem to imply that a La Press reporter is fabricating a quote that’s been directly attributed to the agent.  Which sure seems unlikely.

Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 11/24/08 at 05:08 PM ET

Rick Ball is banging on about it again right now. He’s claiming they phoned Lupien, who denied saying it. I’m sure he’ll bring it up again before the show’s over. He’s worked in blaming blogs too.

Posted by the sieve from the bovine city on 11/24/08 at 05:14 PM ET

Thanks for the update. Yeah, I just heard that. Bloggers—apparently by reporting what the mainstream press is saying and properly giving them credit—are somehow mixed up in this supposed-misinformation.  (Well, of course!)

La Presse is standing behind their report, incidentally. So far.

Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 11/24/08 at 05:19 PM ET

And while Ball is on his high horse about bloggers, I should also mention that the first place I saw this story quoting La Presse was on Sportsnet.ca. I guess mainstream media isn’t infallible after all.

Posted by the sieve from the bovine city on 11/24/08 at 05:22 PM ET

Luongo should stop hanging around playgrounds.  Maybe then he wouldn’t strain his abductor...

Thanks, I’ll be here all week.

Posted by mudshark from Divetown, Colorado on 11/24/08 at 07:00 PM ET

You fans are the cockiest s.o.b’s ever…!

As mudshark put it so well, thanks, we’ll be here all week. Ah, what the heck. Let’s make it all season just for good measure.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 11/24/08 at 07:25 PM ET

I can understand how you redwing fans would bitch and moan about osgood.  I mean, in reality, he is a pretty mediocore goaltender, only reason he has such a consistent win record is a result of the team that is in front of him.  He is like Cloutier, but with a better team in front of him.  I mean if Cloutier can record 3 consistent 30+ win seasons, then osgood SHOULD get at least 40 wins with the team he has in front of him.  I swear, if we had a decent goalie during the WCE-Era we would have won the cup.

Posted by Luongo-is-my-hero on 11/24/08 at 09:01 PM ET

The s.o.b.s not so cocky this morning???? :D

Posted by Sarah from England on 11/25/08 at 06:57 AM ET

The s.o.b.s not so cocky this morning????

Au contraire. We played the third game of a road trip in your building…and we took home a point. If the Canucks could hit an open net, the game would have ended 4-2 in regulation.

But I have to give credit where credit is due. Sanford played an excellent game (as did Osgood) and the Canucks forwards were relentless, especially in the third period. We could point to the phantom call on Franzen in overtime and the way the Canucks “rode” Hossa’s back all night long (without getting called). But, in the end, it was a fun game to watch.

We’ll see you in Detroit in a week in the second game of your road trip. And we won’t complain (too much) that you’ll be playing with two full days off following your strenuous flight all the way up from Columbus. Don’t get lost, now.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 11/25/08 at 11:50 AM ET

Heh.  I suppose you could say the same about the slew of uncalled interference on Canucks players last night, and the call on Burrows late in the 3rd (it was weak, and not the kind of call to make in a tie late in the 3rd when you’ve been letting it go all night).  I suppose we can all agree the refs sucked last night.  I will pass on the road trip comment, except to say the defending champs are the last ones I figured would blame the road trip and not the road team in the loss.  We will see you in Detroit, and thanks to Google maps I am sure they will find it. 

Posted by Kent from Victoria, BC on 11/25/08 at 01:10 PM ET

I will pass on the road trip comment, except to say the defending champs are the last ones I figured would blame the road trip and not the road team in the loss.

It would be fun to see how West Coast teams would handle going west across three time zones and playing night games when their “internal clock” thinks the start time is 10:30. As it is, the westies play their road games in the east with their internal clocks thinking it’s 4:30. Sounds trivial, but anyone who travels regularly knows it’s not.

I suppose we can all agree the refs sucked last night.

No way! All of the calls went against the Wings. Okay, you’re right. It was a poorly regulated game, with calls coming at odds times and in odd situations.

We will see you in Detroit, and thanks to Google maps I am sure they will find it.

Heck, you could hitch-hike from Columbus in two days and never once have to ask for directions.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 11/25/08 at 02:13 PM ET