Sometimes we get upset and we say things we don’t mean. However, when it comes to the statements an emotional Roberto Luongo made Wednesday after not getting dealt at the NHL trade deadline, the Vancouver Canucks goalie has no regrets.
“My contract sucks,” Luongo told reporters Wednesday, clearly upset with what has been an emotional roller coaster of a season, adding that he would scrap the contract if he could. Luongo's deal goes until 2022, carrying a $5 million a year cap hit. That does make it more difficult to move, but also not so sucky when the checks roll in.
With a few days to cool off, Luongo explained those remarks.
“I was emotional and I said what I said,” Luongo said to Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun Friday.
Oh.
“Moving forward, I think it's important for me to be focused on being here and being 100 per cent focused on playing hockey. So I really don't want to be talking about anything that's happened in the past, or my future for that matter, except for my immediate future — the next month, or two months, or hopefully three months,” he continued.
It’s been an uncomfortable situation, to say the least, but with the trade deadline passed, Luongo and his teammates won’t have to deal with trade rumors for now. There will be little to distract attention from Luongo’s seeming discomfort in Vancouver, however. For as long as he is a Canuck, it will be a storyline.
“That's part of life, you know,” Luongo told the Sun. “You're thrown into different situations and you have to find ways to handle them the best you can. I'm not saying that I've handled every situation in my life the best way I could, but I try.”
With the Canucks jockeying for position in the Northwest Division with the Minnesota Wild and Cory Schneider looking more like the bona fide No. 1 goalie in Vancouver, Luongo has no choice but to handle it as best he can. He's not going anywhere for a bit.
Though the Canucks and Luongo will have to find a way to coexist for a few more months, it seems this saga's end can't be far off.
