Luongo Has a Key Supporter

As an assistant coach of Canada’s Olympic hockey team, Jacques Martin wants Roberto Luongo to fill one of the three goaltending slots on the roster.

But as coach of the Florida Panthers, for whom Luongo is the netminder, Martin might be better served if Luongo rests during the 15-day Olympic break and is fresh when the Panthers resume their unlikely pursuit of an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

While Team Canada bids farewell to Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman and ponders replacing them with Sidney Crosby, Jason Spezza and Eric Staal, the transition to the next generation might extend to the nets. Martin has recommended Luongo to Canada’s Olympic staff, even though the 26-year-old hasn’t had the team success of New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur, Dallas’ Marty Turco or Toronto’s Ed Belfour.

To support his case, Martin pointed to Luongo’s clutch performances in leading Canada to the 2003 world championship and in earning a spectacular semifinal victory over the Czech Republic in the 2004 World Cup. Canada will announce its roster Dec. 21, two days after Team USA’s announcement.

“I think it’s a tremendous experience for him,” Martin said of Luongo. “I think the Olympics are great opportunities for players and I’m sure any player that gets selected loves to represent his country. And I know Roberto has done that in the past and feels proud of his accomplishment and it’s been great experiences for him. I think it’s made him better in the long run.”

Luongo set an NHL record in 2003-04 with 2,303 saves. He’s on pace for more this season, if he’s not worn down by barrages of shots.

His ice time of 1,519 minutes and 39 seconds is second only to the 1,597:14 played by Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff. Luongo leads the NHL in shots faced, 909; in saves, 825; games played, 28, and losses, 14. His goals-against average of 3.32 is 34th among goalies who have played 10 or more games but his .908 save percentage ranks in the top 15 and is more than respectable.

His save percentage is also superior to Belfour’s .898 and 2002 Olympic goalie Brodeur’s .893. Only the Coyotes’ Curtis Joseph, who has a 2.15 goals-against average and .929 save percentage -- and is seen daily by Wayne Gretzky, Team Canada’s executive director and Phoenix’s coach -- has a clear advantage.

“Brodeur has gone through some tough times, Belfour has gone through some tough times,” Martin said. “When you look at Roberto, his save percentage is still higher than all those guys and he had a real strong start for us and the team played well the early part of the season.

“Then we had some injuries, we lost four guys and that really made a hole in the lineup. We struggled, we didn’t play as well, consequently he became vulnerable.... I think for a while, he probably struggled and lost his confidence.”

Luongo didn’t start at San Jose last Thursday, his third game as the backup. He returned Saturday with a solid, 29-save performance in Florida’s 3-1 loss to the Kings.

“This was the best I felt since the first couple weeks of the season,” he said. “I felt really sharp and I felt good about myself. Once in a while you need rest, especially when you face a lot of shots.”

Yet, he said he’d prefer an Olympic berth to a prolonged break.

“The Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world and especially that it’s in Italy and I’m of Italian origin, it would be great experience for me,” he said. “[Team Canada executives] know what I can do. I’ve played in the World Cup, World Championships and it would be a shame if I didn’t make the team because of a few bad weeks.

“A lot of stuff is out of my control and all I can do is work on my game on the ice and do the best that I can, and hopefully they recognize that.”

Money Matters

The NHL’s Board of Governors, scheduled to convene in Scottsdale, Ariz., this week, will get a rosier report on league finances than they might have expected. Revenues were projected to hit $1.8 billion this season but are now expected to top $2 billion, which would trigger a rise in the salary cap next season because payrolls will be pegged to 54% of league-wide hockey revenues.

Players also would get back some of the money taken from their paychecks and put into escrow in case revenues didn’t meet expectations. A deduction of 12% was made for the first quarter.

The Governors are also expected to discuss expanding the playoffs from 16 teams to 20, a plan that was considered but rejected before this season. If approved, it won’t be phased in for at least two seasons.

Separately, agents will gather in Chicago this week for meetings with Ted Saskin, executive director of a players’ union that’s still bitter over its collective bargaining loss and divided over Saskin’s ascent to the executive director’s job. NHL Players’ Assn. President Trevor Linden won’t run for re-election, a source said, depriving Saskin of his strongest supporter in the union.

Slap Shots

The NHL’s holiday trade freeze begins at midnight local time next Monday and ends midnight local time on Dec. 27. Players can be recalled during that span.

The irregular heartbeat that put Lemieux in the hospital for observation last week was not the first such incident he has had this season.

Penguin General Manager Craig Patrick told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Lemieux felt on several occasions that his heart was racing, including twice in October and once when the Penguins were in Tampa last month.

Lemieux sought treatment at a Tampa hospital but his absence from the lineup on Nov. 27 was attributed to a stomach virus.

Lemieux last week withdrew from consideration for the Canadian Olympic team.

Beset by injuries, the Philadelphia Flyers say they won’t make a trade. Instead, they promoted minor leaguers Randy Jones and Frederick Meyer to replace Eric Desjardins, expected to be out eight to 10 weeks because of a dislocated right shoulder, and Joni Pitkanen, out several weeks because of a torn abdominal muscle.

Simon Gagne, the NHL’s goal-scoring leader, joined the two defensemen among the ranks of the injured when he tore a groin muscle.

The Nashville Predators, who have less depth than the Flyers, will be severely tested without forward David Legwand, who tore cartilage in his left knee, and goalie Tomas Vokoun, who sprained his left knee last week and is expected to be out two weeks.