Schneider’s agent wants resolution to Canucks goaltending issue

Canucks goalie Cory Schneider has been nothing but a good soldier as Roberto Luongo — the man he was supposed to replace as Vancouver’s number one — has started four straight games.

“It’s just some adversity,” Schneider said recently. “I don’t cry myself to sleep at night, I don’t feel bad for myself. I just have to work hard and be better.”

But make no mistake, sitting on the bench is an issue for the 26-year-old who’s waited more than patiently for his chance to start in the NHL since being drafted 26th overall by the Canucks in 2004.

Just agent Schneider’s agent, Mike Liut.

“If they are both there for the entire season, and it’s a 48-game season, and Roberto plays 40 games, that’s a disaster,” Liut told the Vancouver Sun yesterday. “That’s an extreme and I don’t think that’s going to happen, but certainly the sooner [there's a resolution] the better.

“Vancouver has a decision to make with their goaltending, everybody knows that. We don’t need to add more to it than that. Everyone wants it resolved and if it can get resolved that will be better for everybody.”

Meanwhile, Canucks GM Mike Gillis is backing head coach Alain Vigneault’s decision to stick with Luongo, whose .940 save percentage is second to only Ottawa’s Craig Anderson (.964) among goalies with more than three starts.

“We are conscious of ice time and we have to win games,” Gillis said today on TEAM 1040 radio. “We don’t have the luxury of people’s feelings.”

As for how this all plays out, “nothing will surprise me,” says Liut.