Roberto Luongo’s Return a Reminder of Canucks in Chaos

It will be a bittersweet reunion on Thursday night, when the Florida Panthers and a rejuvenated Roberto Luongo take on the Canucks at Rogers Arena. Luongo recently gave an interview with the Canadian Press, where he finally suggested what many Canucks fans have assumed all along, that his benching at the Heritage Classic last year was the catalyst for his trade to Florida:

"“There’s no hiding it. I did want to play that game,” Luongo told reporters. “I mean that goes without saying, and if I would have played I probably would maybe still be here. Who knows?”"

Sure, not a 100% clear statement, but obviously Luongo himself feels that things might have turned out differently had he started that game. His return to Vancouver tomorrow night will be a chance for the organization and fans to honor and thank him. But it will also be a painful reminder of what might have been.

According to George Richards of the Miami Herald, discussion about trading Luongo had been going on for some time between Vancouver and Florida. But things changed significantly after the Heritage Classic:

"Tallon, however, now had the financial backing of new ownership not to mention a much lower pricetag for Luongo’s services. Vancouver had been asking for some of Florida’s top prospects — most notably Nick Bjugstad — in previous talks. In March, all Tallon had to give up was center Shawn Matthias and goalie prospect Jacob Markstrom to bring Luongo back to South Florida."

It’s difficult to read that quote and not imagine what might have been. A Luongo trade was likely inevitable, but the Canucks organization was the main catalyst in making the circumstances so unfavorable. Matthias and Markstrom have been serviceable, but not the type of blue chip prospects the Canucks had been asking for before things went sideways. So why did things go so wrong?

The first culprit, of course, is John Tortorella. His tone deaf approach to his team became more and more apparent as the season wore on. His benching of Luongo in the game was a completely insensitive and unnecessary move. Even if he thought Lack gave the team a better chance of winning (which is difficult to believe), the fallout from Luongo, the fans and the media was simply not worth it. Whatever Tortorella’s motivation, benching Luongo was the wrong move.

But the fact that Tortorella was not challenged at all speaks to the level of organizational chaos the Canucks had sunk to last year. The team just seemed to lack a plan, or any type of healthy communication within the organization. Surely Mike Gillis, who had been through so much with Luongo already, could have stepped in. While good GM’s generally allow their coaches to coach, this was too big of a situation for Gillis to stay away. He needed to intervene, but he either could not or did not.

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Accountability eventually came, with both Gillis and Tortorella being let go. But it came too late to save the Canucks’ relationship with Roberto Luongo. Thus the Canucks lost their all-time leader in every significant goaltending stat except games played (Captain Kirk still holds that one).

The Canucks’ slogan to start the year was #changeiscoming. We have certainly seen that change on the ice. The team is, for the most part, a more cohesive, fun and exciting team than last year. However I think the most significant change, and the one that will take more time to show, is the organizational change. Trevor Linden, Jim Benning and Willie Desjardins have brought a level of stability to the front office and coaching staff that was obviously lacking last year.

If the front office can continue to work well together, the Canucks have a bright future ahead of them. Dysfunction in the organization doesn’t take long to show up on the ice. The Canucks showed that last year, and it cost them Luongo. In the end the trade was the best move for both parties, it’s just unfortunate that the circumstances were so ugly.