Hockey

For most hockey-playing countries, goaltender Roberto Luongo would be an Olympic dream, a player capable of dominating a short tournament and single-handedly stealing a medal.

But in Canada, where world-class goaltenders are abundant, every potential wart on national team candidates will undergo eagle-eye scrutiny from now until the 2010 Games, and Luongo sports one inescapable blemish: an 0-for-2 record in second-round playoff elimination games.

Asked about his record last week, an ever-confident Luongo didn't flinch, and said Canadians shouldn't be wringing their mittens if he's defending the country's net with a gold medal on the line.

"I won back-to-back championships in junior [and] I won back-to-back championships at the world championships," he said. "Just because I haven't had the opportunity yet in the NHL - even though I've been in the league a long time - doesn't mean I don't love to play in those types of situations. Once my career is over, then we can pass judgment."

Luongo, 30, has reached the appropriate age, served the appropriate Hockey Canada apprenticeship, and has the ultimate home-ice advantage with the Winter Olympics tournament taking place at his house - General Motors Place, home of the NHL's Canucks. Should Luongo outperform New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur between now and February, he could easily inherit the Canadian starter's torch from his fellow Montrealer.

First, however, there is the matter of inexperience in pressure situations. The biggest blight on the poker-loving Luongo is that he hasn't played many high-stakes games, and that he has flopped in the few occasions when the chips were down.

Before arriving on the West Coast in 2006, Luongo helped Canada win the 2003 and 2004 world championships, and he reached two Memorial Cups after titles in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. But in the NHL, while his postseason numbers are respectable, his exits have been clunky.

The lasting image of Luongo's 2008-09 season, his 10th in the league, came after a six-game playoff loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round. Luongo allowed seven goals, and the proud competitor was reduced to tears and self-blame after his second career playoff experience.

Two years earlier, Luongo tainted perhaps the best game of his career - a 56-save effort against the Anaheim Ducks in the second round - when he was beaten for the series-winning goal while looking at a referee and anticipating a penalty.

Two decisive games, two lapses of concentration.

Brodeur, current keeper of the flame, is almost certain to participate in his fourth Olympics. The only question is whether the 37-year-old should be Canada's starter.

He has won three Stanley Cups and a gold medal with the 2002 Salt Lake City team, but he was also a party to the 2006 bust in Turin. So was Luongo, who allowed three goals in two appearances, a win against Germany and a 2-0 loss to Finland.

Brodeur said he wants to earn a fourth Olympic appearance on merit and that means remaining healthy, which he didn't do last year, and erasing the memory of his uncharacteristic meltdown in the playoffs. Brodeur, who played in just 31 games last season because of elbow surgery, was beaten twice in the final 80 seconds of a Game 7 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

He began this season by playing in his 1000th game, but carried a goals against average of 3.11 and a save percentage of .888 through his first six contests. Then, on Saturday, Brodeur outdueled Olympic challenge Cam Ward of Carolina, recording 26 saves for his 102nd career shutout, leaving him one shy of Terry Sawchuk's NHL record.

Luongo also stumbled out of the gate - his typical October malaise - and was pulled from two of his first six starts. Heading into the Canucks' game last night in Edmonton against the Oilers, he was allowing nearly 31/2 goals a game, and stopping just 87 per cent of shots.

If Luongo and Brodeur struggle, than the spotlight will shine even brighter on young goaltenders such as Ward, Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Marc-André Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the pursuing pack who were all invited to Hockey Canada's summer orientation camp.

Brodeur has acknowledged that "the pressure from our fans will definitely keep us accountable," while in a recent trip through Vancouver, Mason admitted he felt as though he was auditioning for Hockey Canada management with every NHL start, and that the pressure will only intensify after Christmas when the team is selected and the three goalies chosen jockey for the No..1 job.

Conversely, the goaltender who hasn't faced many pressure situations is choosing to ignore the one at hand. Luongo said he has learned from 2002, when he was gauging his Olympic progress as the NHL season went along. He believes he has enough Olympic equity built up not to worry about the daily ebbs and flows of the candidates, so long as the Canucks are on track.

"Obviously you think about [the Olympics], but I don't think about it when I'm playing," he said. "My priority, first and foremost, is the Vancouver Canucks, and making sure that we get into the playoffs and make a run. All I can do is worry about playing my game, and helping the Vancouver Canucks. And at the same time, I'll be helping myself out."