Behind the mask it's easy for Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo to keep his emotions in check. But as the Olympics approach, he's starting to get excited.
"It's kind of hard not to," he told CTV's Perry Solkowski in his first one-on-one interview about the upcoming 2010 Games.
"You live in the city and see the stuff going up. I went to visit Canada Hockey House and it's exciting."
Luongo is the captain of the team in a hockey crazed city and the only Vancouver Canuck player on Team Canada. The pressure he will be a part of may reach heights never before achieved by a group of athletes. But for Luongo, that's where the fun is.
"There will always be pressure and playing in a Canadian market there's always pressure but it's a good thing," he said.
"I will embrace it and have fun with it."
Whether or not he starts is not a concern for Luongo. The two-time Olympian's NHL dream started later in life but it is one that he has embraced.
"When I was younger there were no NHL'ers at the Olympics, I didn't know what path I was going to take in my career. When I got closer to Junior's they started having Olympic players. It is always a wonderful experience. Not quite as big as Stanley Cup, but right up there."
Winning the Stanley Cup might be his ultimate goal, but being a part of the 2010 Games is a memory that is something he will treasure as much as his time in Turin, Italy, in 2006.
"The thing that sticks out in my mind is walking through the village and you could tell which countries are in which building with the flags hanging down," he said.
"It's a huge part of the Olympics and something I wouldn't want to miss."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Perry Solkowski
