Roberto Luongo and the Most Maligned Player on Each NHL Team

Roberto Luongo is one of the many maligned players in the NHL who no matter how well they perform in certain games, fans still have issues with certain areas of their play.

These players are highly criticized for by fans and the media for many reasons, one of which is poor performance in the playoffs.

Let's look at the most maligned player on each team.

Anaheim Ducks: Jason Blake

Ducks forward Jason Blake played in 45 games this year but only managed 12 points, and certainly didn't live up to the team's or the fan's expectations of him.

Boston Bruins: Joe Corvo

Bruins defenseman Joe Corvo has been highly criticized in his first year in Boston because of his poor defensive play and costly turnovers. He was brought in to fix the power play, and he hasn't done that at all.

Buffalo Sabres: Ville Leino

Ville Leino signed an expensive long-term deal last summer and did not have a very good season, although his play picked up toward the end of the year. Sabres fans hope he is much better in 2012-13.

Calgary Flames: Matt Stajan

Matt Stajan racked up just 18 points in 61 games as a player making pretty good money, which is unacceptable for a Calgary Flames team with not a lot of offense or salary-cap space to work with.

Carolina Hurricanes: Eric Staal

Eric Staal is the Carolina Hurricanes' best player, but he didn't have a good year in 2011-12. He scored just 24 goals which was the second fewest of his career and the least since his rookie season.

He was also a minus-20, which is terrible for a player of his caliber.

Chicago Blackhawks: Corey Crawford

Although the Blackhawks defense didn't play well in the playoffs, goaltender Corey Crawford was the primary reason the team lost its first-round series to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Crawford let in several soft goals throughout the series, two of which came in overtime. He was a very inconsistent player all year.

Colorado Avalanche: Semyon Varlamov

Semyon Varlamov cost the Colorado Avalanche a first-round pick when they acquired him from the Washington Capitals before the season, but he wasn't very reliable for Colorado.

He went 26-24 and wasn't able to hold the No. 1 job throughout the season, evidenced by J.S. Giguere's 30 starts in net.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Steve Mason

Steve Mason hasn't been able to find his level of play that he showed during the 2008-09 season when he won the Calder Trophy for the Blue Jackets.

His poor play in net has been a real issue for the Blue Jackets over the last few seasons.

Dallas Stars: Radek Dvorak

Radek Dvorak amassed only 21 points in 71 games this season for the Dallas Stars and had a team-low minus-21 rating.

Detroit Red Wings: Jonathan Ericsson

Jonathan Ericsson was on the third pairing for the Detroit Red Wings most of the season and didn't play as well in his own zone as the fans and team would have liked.

It's safe to say that the Red Wings need to upgrade their blueline in the summer.

Edmonton Oilers: Ales Hemsky

Ales Hemsky racked up only 36 points in a disappointing season offensively, but that was good enough to earn himself a two-year contract worth $5 million per season.

It was an awful contract that has fans in Edmonton a bit puzzled.

Florida Panthers: Scottie Upshall

Scottie Upshall was signed to a good-sized contract in the summer but was only able to play in 26 games for the Florida Panthers this season and contribute five points.

Los Angeles Kings: Dustin Penner

Although Dustin Penner has been a disaster during his brief tenure with the Los Angeles Kings, his play has improved a bit in the playoffs.

However, he certainly won't return to the team this summer when he's a free agent. Penner was supposed to be a big-time offensive force for L.A. but has been far from it.

Minnesota Wild: Dany Heatley

Dany Heatley led the Minnesota Wild in points this season with 53, but only scored 24 goals, the fewest he's scored since the 2003-04 season.

The Wild thought he was going to contribute much more offensively, especially if healthy like he was this season.

Montreal Canadiens: Scott Gomez

Scott Gomez makes about $7 million per season but is rarely a factor offensively for the Montreal Canadiens. He scored only two goals this season in 38 games.

Nashville Predators: Sergei Kostitsyn

Sergei Kostitsyn has so much offensive talent but he rarely shows it on a consistent basis. He had just 17 goals this season for a Predators team that needed more goalscoring from him.

New Jersey Devils: Anton Volchenkov

Anton Volchenkov isn't physical enough for a defenseman and doesn't move the puck well either. His speed and skating ability also isn't that great. Not a good combo for a guy on a playoff team.

New York Islanders: Michael Grabner

As the 14th overall pick in the 2006 NHL draft, the Islanders were hoping that Michael Grabner would be more than a player accumulating 32 points this season in 78 games. 

That's not good enough for a team that needs to score a ton to offset their weak defense.

New York Rangers: Brandon Dubinsky

Brandon Dubinsky racked up a career-high 54 points last season, got a new contract and was able to contribute just 34 points this season.

A slow start for Dubinsky next season could force the Rangers to reconsider his place on the team.

Ottawa Senators: Bobby Butler

I wouldn't say the Senators have many guys who were constantly maligned this season but Bobby Butler should have scored more than 16 points in the 56 games he played in this season.

Philadelphia Flyers: Ilya Bryzgalov

This is the easiest pick on this list.

Ilya Bryzgalov was brought in to the Flyers by signing a nine-year, $51 million contract to finally give Philly some stability at the goaltender position.

Well, Bryzgalov was very inconsistent this season and wasn't even good enough to start the Winter Classic.

If not for his offense scoring an amazing amount of goals in the Flyers' first-round series win over the Penguins, Bryzgalov would been getting destroyed in the media and among fans right now.

If there's an amnesty clause in the new NHL CBA this summer, Bryzgalov might be gone from Philly before next year.

Phoenix Coyotes: Raffi Torres

Raffi Torres was a problem for the Phoenix Coyotes all season. He had just 26 points on the year and also caused a stir multiple times for his dangerous hits on opponents.

His hit on Blackhawks star Marian Hossa in the first round of the playoffs earned him a massive 25-game suspension.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Paul Martin

Veteran defenseman Paul Martin needed to be solid at both ends of the ice this season for the Pittsburgh Penguins because of their injury issues.

He was not, and the bad part about Martin is that he has several more years of a $5 million cap hit that the Penguins will have trouble moving.

San Jose Sharks: Patrick Marleau

Patrick Marleau had a good regular season but the playoffs is the only thing that matters to San Jose Sharks fans.

In the team's first-round series against the St. Louis Blues, Marleau had zero points and was a minus-one. It might be time for him and the team to part ways in the summer.

St. Louis Blues: Chris Stewart

Chris Stewart is a better player than his 15 goals and 15 assists this season would indicate. As a young power forward with strong offensive skills, Stewart needs to prove he can be a top-line player or the Blues might look to move him at some point.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Dwayne Roloson

The Tampa Bay Lightning thought veteran goaltender Dwayne Roloson could lead them back to the playoffs this season, and they were wrong.

Roloson was a disaster and highlighted the serious issues the team has in net. He was 13-16-3 this season.

Toronto Maple Leafs: James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson

I'm going to choose the goaltending combo of James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Starting in early February, these two goalies' form started to dip and the season quickly went downhill for the Leafs. No goalies were more criticized than these two this season.

Vancouver Canucks: Roberto Luongo

Even when he plays well, Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo doesn't get any credit unless the team wins.

When the team made the decision to go with talented backup Cory Schneider for the last three games of their first-round series with the Los Angeles Kings, it became clear that Luongo's time in Vancouver is likely over.

Luongo is a good player, but his multiple playoff failures have opened him up for a lot of criticism.

Washington Capitals: Alex Ovechkin

An underperforming regular season from an offensive standpoint and a benching in the third period of a playoff game because of poor defense have highlighted a disappointing season for Capitals superstar captain Alex Ovechkin.

Winnipeg Jets: Zach Bogosian

Zach Bogosian was a very high draft pick but hasn't lived up to his potential at either end of the ice in his three-plus seasons as an NHL player.