Roberto Luongo's New Favorite Number is 12

Vancouver Canucks president and general manager Mike Gillis made a bold move on Wednesday that’s sure to get second guessed when he signed starting goalie Roberto Luongo to a whopping 12- year contract extension. In analyzing the signing it’s a great move right now for the Canucks as the 30 year-old who is a nine- year veteran is in the prime of his career and has proven over and over again to be among the game’s elite. This former 1997 New York Islanders first round pick had 33 wins in only 54 games last season while posting a nifty 2.34 GAA. What makes this signing a bit of a short- term gamble is that Luongo missed an alarming 24 games when in early November he suffered a serious groin injury, which can linger with a goaltender. It’s pretty clear that Gillis is thinking about winning now as opposed to the long term dangers of having a goalie such as Luongo locked up until he is past his prime at 43 years of age. Looking into the future Luongo who has 230 career wins believes that maybe he can play into his forties. “Well, (Chris) Chelios is doing it, I don’t see why I can’t do it, so we’ll see what happens,” Luongo whose extension is worth 64 million dollars said. “I take care of myself-not only during the season, but in the off-season I work out hard. I watch what I eat and all that stuff. I’ll play as long as I can because I love the sport. As long as my body keeps telling me to play I’ll be in the pipes.” This is all sweet music for Vancouver fans whose team made some significant off-season moves to their blue line in signing veteran Mattieu Schneider, Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich. This along with re-signing the Sedin twins has given Luongo a good feeling about what Vancouver can accomplish in the near future. “We’ve added some more pieces this summer, so I really like our group,” Luongo said. “Once you’re in the playoffs it’s a clean sheet for everybody, and whomever is playing the best at that time can take it. For us it’s a matter of getting there, and making sure that once we’re there we’re playing at our best.” Many critics will point to the New York Islanders GM Garth Snow who a couple of years ago signed goaltender Rick Dipietro just before he got seriously injured. Still it’s a chance that Gillis was willing to take on not only his number one goalie but captain of his Canucks hockey team. “Today is a very exciting day for the Canucks organization,” Gillis said on Wednesday. “Roberto Luongo is the leader of our hockey team; he is in the prime of his playing career and has a tremendous desire to make the Canucks a championship team. His leadership, competitiveness and character are what this team will represent for many years to come.”