Roberto Luongo

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Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
Nickname	Bobby Luo
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 206 lb (94 kg)
NHL Team F. Teams	Vancouver Canucks Florida Panthers New York Islanders
Nationality	Canada
Born	April 4, 1979, Montreal, PQ, CAN
NHL Draft	4th overall, 1997 New York Islanders
Pro Career	1998 – present

Roberto Luongo (born April 4, 1979, in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender with the Vancouver Canucks.

Contents 1 Playing career 1.1 New York Islanders 1.2 Florida Panthers 1.3 Vancouver Canucks 1.4 Play for Team Canada 2 Trivia 3 Movements 4 Career statistics 4.1 Regular season 4.2 Playoffs 5 International play 6 External links

[edit] Playing career

[edit] New York Islanders

Luongo began his junior hockey career at the age of 16. He joined the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Val-d'Or Foreurs for the 1994-95 QMJHL season, and the next year, he notched 31 wins, a club record. The year after that spectacular season, Luongo backstopped the Foreurs to the Memorial Cup finals and established a league regular-season single-season record with 8 shutouts. After he was traded to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan midway through 1998-99, he again pursued the Memorial Cup, but midway through that season the NHL intervened.

Luongo was drafted in the first round, 4th overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders. At the time no goaltender had ever been drafted that high. Although the Isles returned 18-year-old Luongo to the QMJHL, they'd had every intention of getting him dressed for a 1998-99 NHL game. Contractual problems changed the plan.

Although Luongo finally signed a contract, he was "bitterly dismayed" upon his arrival with the American Hockey League's Lowell Lock Monsters, New York's minor league team, even though he expected to play in the NHL. "When I got here I said to myself, "Just work hard and get some experience. Just try to get better every day, Luongo." He did not make his NHL debut until November 28, 1999, when he stopped 43 pucks during a 2-1 win against the Boston Bruins.

He had a 3.25 Goals-Against Average and .904 save percentage over 24 games as an Islander, on the NHL's third-worst team.

[edit] Florida Panthers

Fans were shocked when Islanders General Manager Mike Milbury suddenly traded him to the Florida Panthers in 2000, where Luongo would spend five seasons.

Luongo played 47 games as a Panther in 2000-01 and posted a .920 save percentage. Partly through another disappointing season in 2001, the Panthers hired new coach "Iron Mike" Keenan. Keenan is well known for frequently pulling his goaltenders unexpectedly — once even making four goalie changes in one period.

"It isn't that big a deal," Luongo said later that season. "He does it so much that we expect it. When you're sitting on the bench and you're an NHL goaltender and Mike Keenan is your coach you have to be ready, just in case."^{[citation needed]} In 2002-03, Luongo faced over 2,000 shots, yet saved 91.8% of them. He placed second in voting for the Vezina Trophy in 2004 when he faced the most shots ever by any goaltender (2,475) in a season and still managed to maintain a 2.43 GAA and a .931 save percentage — first among goalies with 50-plus starts that year (Luongo had 72). He also set an NHL record for most saves in a season with 2,303, as well as picking up 7 shutouts, fifth in the league, but he lost out to fellow Montrealer Martin Brodeur that season. Still, Keenan found cause for criticism.

"He's played a lot of goal, he's had a good save percentage, he's had to stop a lot of shots," admitted Keenan of Luongo, "but Roberto has to learn how to really win as does the rest of the team."^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Vancouver Canucks

Luongo was due to re-sign in Florida for the 2006-2007 season but things did not work out that way as Mike Keenan, the now former Florida GM, traded Luongo, defenceman Lukas Krajicek, and a sixth round pick to the Vancouver Canucks for forward Todd Bertuzzi, defenceman Bryan Allen and goaltender Alex Auld, in the summer. Vancouver managed to sign Luongo to a 4 year, 27 million dollar deal.

Due to his solid play with the Vancouver Canucks in the 2006-2007 regular season, Luongo made the NHL All-Star team as the Western Conference's starter as voted on by the fans. Luongo was named best goaltender of the all star skills competition in Dallas. It was his second All-Star appearance, and first as a starter. Right now he is leading the Canucks to their first playoff appearance since the 2003-2004 campaign, and the first post season of his career. Even while having not fully played a full season on the team, many fans consider him to be one of the best goalies in Canucks history alongside former greats Kirk McLean and Richard Brodeur (no relation to Martin Brodeur). On March 9, 2007, he broke McLean's club record of 38 wins by recording a 2-1 overtime win over the San Jose Sharks, and on March 15, 2007 became only the 20th goaltender in NHL history to post 40 or more wins in a single season after a 3-2 overtime win over the St. Louis Blues. In a random survey of 500 people, 75% of the the pollers thought Luongo was the best goaltender in the NHL^{[citation needed]}. He is now chasing Bernie Parent's NHL record of 47 wins in one season.

[edit] Play for Team Canada

Luongo is a regular in the lineup for the Canadian national team, usually playing a backup role to Martin Brodeur. He has played in four World Championships, winning two golds and a silver, was on the Canadian team which won the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, and was selected for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games.

[edit] Trivia

His parents came from Santa Paolina, Avellino, Italy. Even though he's from Montreal, as a child, he grew up idolizing Edmonton Oilers goalie Grant Fuhr.

[edit] Movements

• June 21, 1997 - Drafted by New York Islanders in the 1st round, 4th overall.
• June 24, 2001 - Traded to the Florida Panthers along with Olli Jokinen in exchange for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha.
• June 23, 2006 - Traded to the Vancouver Canucks along with Lukas Krajicek and a sixth-round selection in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft (Sergei Shirokov) in exchange for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen, and Alex Auld.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1995-96	Val d'Or Foreurs	QMJHL		23	6	11	4	1201	74	0	1.31	?
1996-97	Val d'Or Foreurs	QMJHL		60	32	21	2	3302	171	2	1.32	.948
1997-98	Val d'Or Foreurs	QMJHL		54	33	19	0	3043	157	7	2.67	.948
1998-99	Val d'Or Foreurs	QMJHL		21	6	10	2	1476	77	1	3.92	.902
1998-99	Acadie-Bathurst Titan	QMJHL		22	14	7	1	1342	74	0	1.32	.914
1999-00	Lowell Lock Monsters	AHL		26	10	12	4	1517	74	1	2.34	.908
1999-00	New York Islanders	NHL		24	7	14	1	1292	70	1	1.34	.904
2000-01	Louisville Panthers	AHL		3	1	2	0	178	10	0	2.56	.917
2000-01	Florida Panthers	NHL		47	12	24	7	2628	107	5	2.21	.920
2001-02	Florida Panthers	NHL		58	16	33	4	3030	140	4	2.67	.915
2002-03	Florida Panthers	NHL		65	20	34	7	3627	164	6	2.34	.918
2003-04	Florida Panthers	NHL		73	25	33	14	4252	172	7	2.21	.931
2005-06	Florida Panthers	NHL		75	35	30	9 (OTL)	4305	213	8	2.97	.914
NHL CAREER TOTALS				342	115	168	42	19134	866	31	2.72

[edit] Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1995-96	Val d'Or	QMJHL		3	0	1		68	5	0	4.41
1996-97	Val d'Or	QMJHL		13	8	5		777	44	0	3.39
1997-98	Val d'Or	QMJHL		17	14	3		1019	37	2	2.17
1998-99	Acadie-Bathurst	QMJHL		23	16	6	1	1400	64	0	2.74
1999-00	Lowell	AHL		6	3	3		359	18	0	2.91
NHL CAREER TOTALS

[edit] International play

• Silver medal at 1999 Under-20 World Championships.
• Gold medal at 2003 World Championships.
• Gold medal at 2004 World Championships.
• Gold medal at 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
• Silver medal at 2005 World Championships.

Year	Team	Event		GP	W	L	T	SO	GAA
1998	Canada	U20		3	0	0	0	0	2.89
1999	Canada	U20		7	4	2	1	0	1.93
2001	Canada	WC		2	1	0	0	0	1.44
2003	Canada	WC		4	3	0	1	1	1.98
2004	Canada	WC		7	5	1	1	1	2.32
2004	Canada	W-Cup		1	1	0	0	0	2.82
2005	Canada	WC		2	1	0	1	1	1.50
2006	Canada	OG		2	1	1	0	0	1.51
	Junior International Career Total			10	4	2	1	0	2.22
	Senior International Career Total			18	12	2	3	3	1.99

Vancouver Canucks - Current Roster

view • talk • edit  Goaltenders: 1 Luongo • 35 Sabourin  Defensemen 2 Ohlund • 3 Bieksa • 4 Sopel • 5 Krajicek • 6 Salo • 8 Mitchell • 18 Fitzpatrick • 23 Edler  Forwards 7 Morrison • 9 Pyatt • 14 Burrows • 16 Linden • 17 Kesler • 19 Naslund • 20 Cowan • 21 Smolinski • 22 D. Sedin • 24 Cooke • 25 Green • 26 Santala • 33 H. Sedin • 38 Bulis  General Manager: Dave Nonis •  Head Coach: Alain Vigneault

[edit] External links

• Photos of various goalie masks Luongo has worn