Quote:
Originally Posted by subdude
Yeah, exactly, I'm a diehard Canucks fan but I love Iggy and the passion he brings to the game - his fight with Willie Mitchell last year was awesome, and the last game against the Nucks he actually shoved Luongo out of his way with a "###### you" look on his face - love the guy. I predict another hat trick for him tonight.
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I would argue that there is a pretty significant difference between Canucks fans' ability to jump on the Iginla bandwagon and for Flames fans to do likewise with Luongo. Rightly or wrongly, Iginla has established for himself an almost above reproach reputation within the hockey world. He is an extremely affable guy whose whole demeanor translates very well in the media, and this has a great deal to do with why he gets the endorsements that he does. Notice in these Olympics that both Nike and Bell have advertisements featuring Iginla; hell, not even Crosby has received the same sort of commercial endorsement that Iginla has for these games!
On the other hand, Luongo has a reputation of being arrogant; he has been frequently truculent with the media, and has been—again, rightly or wrongly—construed as having a tendency to throw his teammates under the bus after a loss. His widely publicized inability to come to terms with Florida did him no favours with regards to his public persona, and then his inaugural press conference in Vancouver—the immortal response to the question of why he wears #1: "I think it pretty much says it all"—rather firmly entrenched him with the perception among observers that he has an inflated sense of self-importance. People generally do not respond well to arrogance—especially when it appears to be premature or unfounded—and Luongo has developed something of a reputation for being inappropriately arrogant.
I suspect that the reason many Flames fans have difficulty embracing Luongo is in part connected to this public persona that has developed around him. For me, personally, it will be difficult to want the same type of success in this tournament as I do for Iginla, Crosby and company. I will cheer for Canada, and that means cheering every time Luongo stops the puck; I just can't help that that will leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, in large part because of how he has presented himself in the past.