By / JOHN CULLEN
Hockey Now Blogger
This is Part 1 of a six-part feature that will run through the duration of the competition. Enjoy.
What is a “mancrush”? Glad you asked. For the uninitiated, a mancrush is a product of “bromance”, when a man possesses a feeling for another man whereby he strongly desires to BE that man. He may not necessarily WANT said man, but when watching the other man play sports, he is aroused in some fashion.
When watching hockey and the Canucks in particular, you will no doubt cheer for every member of the team to succeed(except that one guy you just can’t stand, even if he is wearing your team’s colours), but there’s always those few guys that make you just that little bit more excited when they make a nice play, dole out a nice hit, or say that exact right thing in an interview to make you feel like, “hey...that guy could be my bro.”
The criteria for a hockey player, you ask? Well, the player must look dashing(note: ‘dashing’ is different than ‘good-looking) when skating up the ice, which means the equipment choices, from a straight-cut visor to a flashy stick, are incredibly important. Second, he must have excellent skills on the puck. I love me a sniper. Third, he must be unafraid to mix it up when necessary. There won’t be any sissies on my mancrush team. To sum, physical looks are not the most important characteristic, but I’m not going to have the ginger twins’ chinstraps or Todd Bertuzzi’s tobacco-stained mouth ruining my list, no matter how great they’ve been for the squad over time.
Each day, I will cover the first and second All-Time, All-Mancrush Canucks Teams, featuring players from each position over the years. Today, we’ll start from the net and work our way out. I present to you, the All-Mancrush Goalies!
Second Team All-Time Canucks Mancrush Goaltender
Name: Roberto Luongo
Age: 32(Canuck for 5 years, 2006-Present)
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 217 lb.
Hometown: Acadie-Bathurst, QC
Roberto Luongo isn’t your typical mancrush. He’s been vilified by nearly everyone in the city at some point, he’s a bit of a whiner, and if he wasn’t an NHL goaltender, his second career choice, pumping tires, seems viable, as he doesn’t look all that different from the guy who does actually pump your tires down at the local Fas Gas.
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| "It's a style, Hans." "Well, you look like just got out of the shower." |
Luongo is the one-night stand of mancrushes, that guy you met at the Roxy and you sort of want to forget about, even though when you look back on it, you realize that night was special, and he was actually a really great guy you might have let get away, even if it didn’t seem like such a great decision the next morning when you saw the grease stain his hair left on the pillow.
And that’s how we will look back on Luongo. No matter what happens from here on out, the fact remains that Luongo has been a Top-5 NHL goaltender the entire time he’s been here. He’s kept the team in games, he has won the team numerous playoff games(even though he’s lost a few for us, too), and some of the stretches he’s had with the Orca on his chest are the best of any goalie in the league. Love him or hate him, he deserves this spot on the list and will no doubt find a way to weasel his way back into our hearts over the next little while.
First Team All-Time Canucks Mancrush Goaltender
Kirk McLean
Age: 45(Canuck for 11 years, 1987-1998)
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 182 lb.
Hometown: Willowdale, Ontario
Despite playing for 4 other teams over the course of his career, Kirk McLean is forever thought of as a Canuck. Remembered as much for this 1994 Cup run-saving save against Calgary as he is for the iconic photograph featuring the most bromantic moment in NHL history he shared with fellow Mancrush Trevor Linden during their heartbreaking seven-game series and eventual loss to the New York Rangers, McLean was one of the last stand-up goaltenders to be as effective as he was, posting great numbers in an era where butterfly goaltenders like Patrick Roy started to make headway.
There are not too many fanbases where you can walk up to just about any fan and say “remember The Save?” and they know exactly what you’re talking about. There’s no doubt as to what the best save in team history was, and there’s absolutely no question that McLean’s contribution to the 1994 Stanley Cup run was the most memorable individual effort by a Canucks player ever.
Doesn’t hurt that even in his mid-40’s, McLean still has a sharp sense of style and that boyish “yeah, I did it all” look that made us love him so much in the first place.
Coming up: The Second Team for the defenseman, posted on my next blog day, which is Tuesday. Have any suggestions for your ultimate Canucks mancrush? Leave them in the comments and they will be considered to crack the list!
John Cullen, if you keep posting winners like this, you're gonna be one of my mancrushes.
Hilarious.........Cullen goes offside and gets two minutes for high sticking.
john cullen is the mancrush specialist