Vancouver's starting goalie Roberto Luongo is under some of the most crushing pressure of his life as he prepares for Game 7, and Canucks fans are hoping he'll find some inspiration during a pre-game ritual.
While Luongo may have stumbled on the road in Boston during the Stanley Cup Final, he's shone at home. He says he found the focus for Friday's shutout win after a quiet pre-game stroll on the Stanley Park seawall.
"I just put my hoodie on and my headphones. I don't even know if someone is trying to talk to me, because I can't hear, so I just have my head down and I'm just focusing on the journey -- everything that I need to do to be ready for the game, and that's what gets me prepared," he told reporters.
Luongo also slipped away from the madness to spend some quiet time along the seawall before Game 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks, and it may have helped the Canucks star secure what he's called the biggest win of his career.
Hearing of their hero's habit, some anonymous fans have taken it upon themselves to give Luongo a boost, scrawling a message of support along the walking path near the jersey-clad Girl in a Wetsuit statue.
"We believe in BLuuu. Go Canucks," it reads in green and blue chalk.
Other players are also named -- in much smaller print -- but it's clear the message was meant as a pick-me-up for the struggling starter who's been pulled twice so far in the finals.
Frustrated fans have been critical of Luongo for letting in a whopping 15 goals in three games in Boston, but those out on the seawall Wednesday said they were prepared to give him some space if he made an appearance.
"[I'll] leave him alone. I'm not going to jinx anything," one fan told CTV News.
"I've been waiting 17 years. I was at the '94 Game 7 at the Coliseum, watched them lose, and we cried. That just stunk, and we can't let them happen tonight."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Rob Brown
