Decisions, Decisions – Roberto Luongo Or Carey Price For Canada?

Not that either netminder has been overly tested during their starts in the preliminary round of the 2014 Olympics, but the decision now has to be made about which goalie – Roberto Luongo or Carey Price  – will carry the load as far as Canada can continue to progress.

PHOTO CREDIT: USA TODAY SPORTS

Price, for my money, looked a little shaky in his start, with suspect rebound control and an iffy glove hand.  He also made a big mistake in playing the puck that resulted in a turnover, leading to the lone Norway goal in Canada’s 3-1 victory.  Price made 19 saves on just 20 shots.

Feb 10, 2014; Sochi, RUSSIA; Canada goalie Roberto Luongo (1) during an ice hockey training session in advance of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games at Bolshoy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

Luongo faced more rubber, (althogh not by much) stopping 23 shots and looked much more comfortable in the net.  He seemed to be tracking the puck well in a solid shutout of the Austrians.  He didn’t try to make it look tough, and never looked in any state of discomfort or panic.

Granted, the whole Canadian team looked better in game 2 than it did in game 1, but I would go with Luongo for the pivotal game against Finland on Sunday.  Luongo has been there before, and knows the role of a Canadian goalie is not to win a game by himself, but to make sure he doesn’t do anything to cost his team a game.

Neither one would necessarily be the wrong answer, but Luongo has now been to three Olympics and knows the drill.  He started out as a backup in 2006, became the starter in 2010 and has the all important Gold Medal that so few goalies have.  From the first two games, I would go with the experience of Luongo.