Luongo over Reimer, NOT an upgrade


With the Toronto Maple Leafs apparently still contemplating adding Roberto Luongo I will once again point out the needlessness of this due to the fact that James Reimer has proven himself to be a number one NHL goaltender. There is no need to place a career roadblock that Luongo would be in front of a proven 25 year-old goalie. A look at the numbers shows that Reimer has earned his spot. He is 8th in the league in Save Percentage and 12th in Goals Against Average among goalies with 20 games played. His record is 13-4-4.

Interestingly if we combine his first season and the current season, disregarding last year's injury riddled campaign, the numbers are stellar. In these two seasons combined he has played a full-season's worth of 59 games with a record of 33-14-9 and Save Percentage of .920.

Coincidentally, these numbers are nearly exactly what Roberto Luongo produced in 2008/09 (33-13-7 and .920). Luongo was 29 in this season, Reimer is 25. The argument for a Luongo or another vet is the lack of playoff experience that they would bring over Reimer's zero post-season experience. Realistically, Toronto is not going to win the Cup this year. What difference is it if they win one round or two? Allow Reimer to GAIN his own playoff experience. Luongo wasn't in the playoffs until he was almost 28 years old and over his first three seasons of playoff action he had a record of 17-17, even now he is only 3 games over .500 for his playoff career.

Toronto already has their goaltender of the present and the future, and there is no reason to bring in Luongo or any other Number 1 veteran.

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April 24, 2013 at 9:21 AM
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