Matt Mays & El Torpedo - Stand Down At Sundown

Matt Mays & El Torpedo - Stand Down At Sundown

Happy belated Canada Day everyone! I hope you had a blast celebrating this great Nation's Birthday. I, for one, enjoyed plenty of Canadian beer, rocked out to some great Canadian tunes and even waded through a river of glorious, fresh, cold Canadian water. I just fucking love Canada! "I am from _____ (other than Canada)" said no Canadian, ever. As Canucks, we live in a country that is blessed with breathtaking natural beauty that can be found from coast to coast, in every nook and cranny. We can be proud to live in a strong, democratic society that looks out for one another while, at the same time, looking out for the rights of the individual. If you are not Canadian and are reading this then I implore you to come check it out for yourself; you will not be disappointed.

Matt Mays & El Torpedo embody the genuine Canadian spirit. These four dudes from Nova Scotia have been rocking hard for the better part of a decade. I can't exactly explain it but when you listen to them you instantly know that they're from the Great White North. It must be their simplistic approach to the music, and the lyrics, which evoke the natural greatness of this land. Their self-titled debut is a perfect soundtrack for any and every Canadian who has ever stayed out all night under the stars in the company of friends and family, a blazing fire, and some cold ones. "Stand Down At Sundown" is the finest example of this; I dare you to play it during a sunset on your next camping trip and not feel ridiculously patriotic and proud.

When you think of Canadians and pride there is one combination of this that defines all Canadians and only Canadians: Hockey. Our Game is played through blood and sweat, skill and toughness. No trophy in any sport is more difficult to attain than the 16 wins that it takes to capture The Stanley Cup in the NHL Playoffs.  This fact is known painfully well by my hometown team, The Vancouver Canucks. We've twice come within 1 victory of drinking from Lord Stanley's Mug (1994 & 2011) and have been in good contention for the past several years. However after two consecutive first round playoff exits in a row, with only a single win to show for it, the Canucks are in the midst of a rebuild that reached an early climax this past weekend during the NHL draft.

On Sunday afternoon we said goodbye to last season's team MVP, goaltender Cory Schneider, via a trade with the New Jersey Devils for the 9th overall pick at the draft, in which we selected centre Bo Horvat. (I will now give an important history to provide some sense of the situation. If you are already well informed I would recommend skipping down 3 paragraphs to the debate). This has left us with our ex-Captain, ex-face-of-the-franchise, goaltender Roberto Luongo. This guy brought us within 1 win of the Stanley Cup 3 seasons ago, captured Olympic Gold in front of his home crowd, set several franchise records (wins and shutouts in a season; consecutive shutouts) and finally gave the team a netminder that could be relied upon. During all of this he was awarded a MASSIVE contract, 12 years and $64 million for an annual cap hit of $5.33 million. The majority of the fan base was ecstatic as we had locked up the best goalie on the planet for the rest of his playing career. The team was well built and primed for some deep playoff runs. 

Enter: Cory Schneider. After some major struggles in Chicago (back-to-back second round exits in 6 games) by both the team and (especially?) Luongo this young kid we'd been grooming was given more and more chances. And he stepped up, winning big games and providing the players on the ice and the fans with some new found confidence. Two seasons ago the two goalies played in a virtually equal number of games as the team rode the hot hand to a second consecutive President's trophy (best record in the league). Luongo was given the game 1 nod but after 2 losses at home it was quickly given back to Schneider. He lost the first game but won the next, only to lose the 5th and the defending Western Conference champions were bounced in the first round. 

During the offseason it became apparent that something had to give. Schneider had grown to become the preferred option of the fans and management backed that up, giving him a 3 year, $12 million contract. It appeared to be only a matter of time until Luongo would be traded, all he had to do was waive his no-trade clause and he could go to any number of teams in desperate need of a number one goalie. The Toronto Maple Leafs expressed great interest and put an offer on the table, only to be rejected by Luongo as he was holding out for the Florida Panthers, his ex-team and where he still lives in the offseason, to make an offer. This never happened and suddenly the league was in a 4 month lockout as the players and owners squabbled over money. Finally, in mid-January the season began and sure enough the Canucks had 2 starting goalies, worth just under a combined $10 million, on opening day. Cory got the initial start and played well. When Luongo got his chances, he played well. The two men and the team claimed there was no drama or controversy but the media was having none of it. This was a terrible burden hanging over the team the entire season. Then trade deadline came and went and both men were still on the same team. The playoffs came around and, sure enough, Cory Schneider was injured for the first couple games. Luongo came in and the team lost four straight (Cory played in the final game but it hardly mattered by that point) for a second straight first round exit. The team continued to try to move Lou and he clearly wanted out, putting his Vancouver condo up for sale and sending some sarcastic and self-deprecating tweets.

In the end his contract simply proved impossible to deal. With the new collective bargaining agreement the Canucks had their backs up against the wall when it came to the salary cap and had basically zero room to work with and sign a good, current player. A contract buyout of Luongo was an option, but at close to $30 milion it was not something ownership would deal with. This left GM Mike Gillis with no choice but to trade away the more manageable contract in Schneider for as good of a player as he could get AND afford.

So this begs the question: Who is to blame for the trade that sent a franchise goaltender to New Jersey for just a top 10 (barely) draft pick??? I have 3 culprits, each who played significant roles and would all have loved the help of Captain Hindsight. They are: 

1.) GM Mike Gillis, the man who created Lou's intial contract and then ultimately could not get rid of it

2.) Owner Francesco Aquilini, the man who would not buyout the huge contract, a very tough pill to swallow but was what many analysts considered to be the best move for the organization

3.) Roberto Luongo himself, the man who turned down an early chance to escape the city well before all of this drama ensued and who played well below his potential to lose the starting job and adoration of the fans

I'd love to hear your feedback. Feel free to leave opinions in the comment section below or, better yet, on Facebook or Twitter. I'll join in with my own opinion as well.