Loungo off to Florida

          Last tuesday the Vancouver Canucks traded their goalie, Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers. Luongo has not been happy with the Canucks for a while now. Ever since the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals Luongo has been complaining about the Canucks. The last straw was when the Vancouver Coach John Tortorella chose to start backup goalie Eddie Lack instead of Luongo in last weekends Heritage Classic, a game he has been looking forward to all season. Luongo said “This caught me off guard, but I’m excited. I’m going home,” as quoted by the Canucks on Twitter. 

          Luongo will be playing his last 8 years of his contract on the Panthers. The Panthers already have another goalie, former goalie for the Boston Bruins Tim Thomas. Thomas and Luongo have not had a nice relationship in their hockey careers. Thomas beat Loungo in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals with the Bruins. Thomas only has a one-year contract and there are rumors that he will be traded. The two goaltenders were involved in a famous exchange during the Cup final. Luongo criticized Thomas’s playing style before saying “I’ve been pumping his tires ever since the series started and I haven’t heard one nice thing he had to say about me, so that’s the way it is.” Thomas said later that he didn’t know he was supposed to praise Luongo. 

          Vancouver was shocked when they heard the news of their fan favorite being traded. While in a Canucks uniform he had at least 30 wins in six of his eight seasons, in two of those seasons, he recorded more than 40 wins. This year Loungo has 19 wins and 16 loses with a 2.38 goals-against average and .917 save percentage. Players called him the ultimate teammate, and management viewed him as a model player. In September 2008, he was named Vancouver’s 12th captain. Vancouver's last captain was Markus Naslund’s before he left to the New York Rangers as a free agent. Luongo became the first goalie to be a captain of an NHL team since 1947. The last goalie to become captain was Bill Durnan of the Montreal's Canadians. 

          Luongo has not always been the fan favorite. In the 2010-11 playoffs, Vancouver almost lost to Chicago in the first round, winning in overtime in the seventh game after having  a 3-0 series lead. In the Stanley Cup final, Luongo helped the Canucks get out to a 2-0 series lead, but allowed eight goals in Game 3, he was pulled in Game 4 and did not play at all. After having a shutout in Game 5, he let in three goals in just over three minutes and didn't play in Game 6. He played in Game 7 but the Canucks lost 4-0 and lost the Stanley Cup to the Bruins. 

Extended Link www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/panthers-welcome-home-roberto-luongo-1.2561577