Life without Luongo begins tonight against Detroit. Curtis Sanford is going to get a chance to run with the ball, but the Canucks won't hesitate to go with Schneider should Sanford drop the ball. My guess is that Sanford will start until he loses, simple as that.
Sanford has been receiving plenty of praise however I'm not sold on his play, at all. Yes he has made some big saves, but he has also let in a couple really poor goals. Great saves and bad goals aside, the reason I'm not terribly confident in Sanford is that he is a small goaltender. Simple as that. There is just too much net to shoot at. With that said, one of the positives of having Sanford between the pipes is his ability to handle the puck. Sanford is a significant improvement over Luongo in that department and that will be a big help for the guys on the backend.
After a strong pre-season with the Canucks Cory Schneider has been phenomenal in the AHL, sporting a 10-1 record with a 1.37 GAA and .945 save percentage. With those kind of numbers combined with top prospect status, the Canucks will be very interested in what Schneider is capable of at the NHL level. He will have to earn his playing time, but the Canucks won't hesitate to go with him if Sanford falters.
Blueline Getting Healthier
The news isn't all bad for the Canucks. Sami Salo will be back in the lineup tonight after being out with what the team has been calling the flu. Kevin Bieksa also skated for the first time today, he's still a ways off but the fact that he is already skating is certainly encouraging.
Nolan Baumgartner has been sent back to Manitoba.
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