Curls are not the measure of the man, according to Roberto Luongo who arrived to Vancouver shorn of his moppy mane.

Back in the city that obsesses over him, fans have been doing double takes when seeing Luongo's new do for the first time.

So much of what Luongo does makes news, even his haircuts, it seems.

"It's been a while," Luongo told reporters when asked about his new short hair.

"I just decided to make a big move and we'll see how it goes with that."

Luongo looks refreshed and re-energized, and maybe that's partly because there's no one pulling on his hair anymore.

"She was pulling on my hair all the time -- my baby, not my wife," Luongo said, laughing. "It's something I've been wanting to do for a little while now. It's easier to maintain."

His wife Gina liked the curls, but "she likes it this way as well," Luongo said.

Luongo said he's looking forward to training camp for a multitude of reasons, including a chance to see Whistler.

"I've been there once for player meetings," Luongo said. "But I've never been there skating or anything like that. I heard it's a beautiful arena and a beautiful area.

"It's a good opportunity to get to know the guys and get together as a team. Even though two days is short, I'm sure we'll be spending a lot of time together."

Training camp begins this weekend and Luongo said he feels "a lot of excitement" heading into the year, even though Vancouver is expected to struggle again in the goal-scoring department.

"There's only one expectation I have and that's to stop the puck," he said. "That's the only thing I can control. I can't worry about how many goals we're going to score. I can only worry about doing my job. If I do that, good things can happen. It's really useless to waste energy on things that are really out of my control."