Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo brushed off rumours that the team is considering giving his captaincy to star forward Henrik Sedin.
When asked by Sportsnet’s Dan Murphy whether he had heard of any discussions about a change to the team’s captaincy, Luongo responded via text: “Nope, not that I know of.”
The internet was buzzing Tuesday with rumours that the team was going to make a change of captains. A number of bloggers published the speculation as fact on their Twitter accounts, and there was also a blog in the Vancouver Sun Monday about Luongo possibly relinquishing the captaincy.
Luongo was named captain of the team prior to the 2008-09 season, the first goaltender to have the honour since Montreal Canadiens’ Bill Durnam in 1947-48. National Hockey League rules prohibit a goalie from wearing the “C”, though one can be designated with the title.
Luongo’s captaincy became a storyline in this past season’s playoffs as his play struggled at times. Some commentators felt the title put a goalie in a difficult position of having to criticize teammates.
Sedin was the Canucks’ best player this past season, winning the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion and the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player.
