The Sanford and Schneider show

We should find out the results of Roberto Luongo’s MRI after the Monday morning skate (TSN), so until then, we’ll be sitting on pins and needles. Of course, the hope is that the injury is relatively-minor – i.e. that he didn’t tear anything – and that he could be back on the ice in a couple of weeks or so.

Just for fun, here are the number of games Lui would miss depending on how long he’s out for:

• 1 week: 3 games (2 home, 1 away)
• 2 weeks: 7 games (2 home, 5 away)
• 4 weeks: 12 games (5 home, 7 away)
• 6 weeks: 20 games (10 home, 10 away)
• 8 weeks: 26 games (15 home, 11 away)
• 10 weeks: 31 games (19 home, 12 away)
• 12 weeks: 38 games (20 home, 18 away)
• 16 weeks (4 months): 50 games (28 home, 22 away)

In the meantime, Curtis Sanford will get the starts and Cory Schneider, who was called up from the Manitoba Moose (canucks.com), will back him up.

Can Sanford and Schneider handle the load?

The truth is, I have more faith that Sanford can handle the increased workload than I had in previous Canucks backups. I don’t know where that comes from, but for whatever reason, I don’t worry about the Sandman being in net than say Dany Sabourin or Maxime Ouellet. Maybe it’s because Sanford has some experience as a starter – he essentially took over from Manny Legace in the latter half of the 2006/2007 season when Legace was injured – and played not bad. From January 26, 2007 to the end of the season, he played in 19 games and posted a 6-7-3 record. Last season, when Luongo was injured for a couple of weeks, Sanford started 5 games and went 2-2-1. Again, not a mind-boggling record, but not bad either. He’s only appeared in 4 games so far this season, but especially in his last 2 games – this week’s wins against Minnesota and Pittsburgh – he’s looked more comfortable and have played much better. Likewise, the team is playing better in front of him and Lui himself has some strong words of support for Sanford (Vancouver Province).

“I think we do have a great goalie,” Luongo said of Sanford. “He’s been unbelievable since training camp, and you shouldn’t notice any difference out there.”

Like he’d say anything else, right?

I don’t know how many games Schneider will get to play, but there’s good reason to think he’ll do fine when he does. He’s arguably the best goaltender in the AHL this season and perhaps we’ll soon see how his play translates into the NHL (Vancouver Sun).

Curtis Sanford is expected to start after consecutive wins but Schneider appears more than ready based on his American League stats with the Manitoba Moose. The redhead from Marblehead, Mass., is 10-1-0 with an eye-popping 1.37 goals against average and .945 save percentage. He’s won those 10 in consecutive fashion after dropping his season-opener.

Like everyone else, I’ll be waiting for tomorrow morning’s news and hope for Lui’s speedy recovery. Or that Sanford and Schneider can step up.