Roberto Luongo: With A Stanley Cup, Does He Go Down As One Of the Greats?

After Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa scored his strange, bounding series-winning slap shot Tuesday night, the first player he hugged was Roberto Luongo. 

This was mostly because Luongo may have been the only other guy on the ice who knew where the puck was, but it just also might have been because as heroic as Bieksa's goal was, the real hero was Luongo.

You remember Roberto Luongo, right?

He was the $10 million goalie who was an underachiever, not clutch and a mental case.

That guy is now four wins away from getting his name etched into the big mug, and if that happens he will take his spot amongst the great goaltenders of the game.

Luongo has had to deflect as much criticism as he has slap shots in his Vancouver career, but is that criticism fair?

Goal tenders, like quarterbacks, get too much of the blame when things go wrong. It's a team game, and the guys on the ice in front of him have some impact on what happens. 

Luongo was under the radar when he played in Long Island and Florida, and had to adjust to fans and media that care when he arrived in a hot hockey market in Vancouver. As the Canucks built a contending team, the heat, attention and expectation built.

The Canucks failed to make it out of the second round prior to this season, and the easy target for that failure was Roberto Luongo.

The skaters in front of him seemed to escape criticism.

One of the biggest knocks on Luongo has been that he has not been a good postseason goalie.  Most of this talk came after a Game 6 meltdown against the Blackhawks in 2009. Luongo didn't play well in that game, but is one game enough to label someone as a choker?

How much did the play of the team in front of him have to do with that game?

Luongo never got to see playoff ice until coming to Vancouver, but since then he is 29-23 with a 2.40 GAA and a .920 save percentage in the postseason. 

These are hardly the numbers of chokers.

Comparing him to some modern day goalies known for their postseason prowess, he matches up well. 

Martin Brodeur, widely considered the best playoff goaltender, has a career 2.01 GAA and a .919 save percentage. Patrick Roy's career numbers are a 2.54 GAA and a .910 save percentage.

Luongo's numbers match up, the only thing missing is the Cup.

On top of that, Luongo has shown up in big games, despite his reputation. 

In his first playoff series in 2007, he had a 72 save game against Dallas, was excellent in Game 7 against Chicago this season and was the best player on the ice Tuesday with 54 saves.

Not to mention that little Olympic gold medal game.

Some people will say that Luongo didn't win those games and that the team in front of him did.  This is an unfair criticism, as all Stanley Cup-winning goalies have great teams in front of them.

Is Roy discounted because of Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic? He isn't, and he shouldn't be. 

Neither should Luongo.

Luongo is four wins away from at least getting his name in the conversation of great goaltenders.

While a championship may not put him on the goaltender Mount Rushmore, it will put his name in the visitor center, and with a core of players just hitting their prime, he has a good chance of getting back in years to come.