December 20th, 2023
Alex Rickman
The Vancouver Canucks may have had a rocky history as far as NHL teams go, but Canucks fans have been blessed with some top-class goaltending over the years. From Richard Brodeur’s heroics leading the underdog Canucks to the Stanley Cup final against the Islanders dynasty team to Kirk McLean during the 1990s to more modern times with Jacob Markstrom and Thatcher Demko, Canucks goalies have performed miracles to keep the Canucks in games and steal wins the team may not have earned. However, through all this time, no goalie has captured the hearts of Canucks fans quite like Roberto Luongo. From jaw-dropping glove saves to his legendary bromance with Eddie Lack and countless more incredible memories, there is no shortage of incredible Luongo memories from his time in Vancouver. Let’s recap some of these incredible moments and pay a proper tribute to the greatest goaltender in Canucks history.
After establishing himself as one of the league's best netminders with the Florida Panthers, Luongo was sent to the Canucks in June of 2006 alongside Lukáš Krajíček and a 6th-round pick in exchange for Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld, and Bryan Allen. The goaltending situation in Vancouver was questionable, to say the least prior to Luongo’s arrival, and the impact of the now Hall of Famer was immediately felt. Leading the Canucks to a playoff berth in his first season with the team, Luongo was also responsible for many memorable moments over the course of this season. Although I was too young to remember any of these, I’ve heard many a story about his first playoff game, where he made 72 saves in a quadruple-overtime win against Dallas, one of the longest games in NHL history. Fans have also heard many retellings of the story of why Luongo missed the beginning of overtime in a game against Anaheim later that postseason, as Lu had to take a very important phone call from Mother Nature. Very appropriately to the man himself, the funny stories and the stories of his heroic performances are told among Canucks fans at a nearly equal rate.
Luongo is perhaps best remembered as the backstop that helped lead the Canucks within a game of the Stanley Cup in 2011, and as the goaltender for Canada’s gold medal win at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. While the Canucks would ultimately fall short of winning the cup, and are yet to make it out of the second round in the years following, it’s nearly impossible to imagine this run happening at all without Luongo in the net. While backup goaltender Cory Schneider, who was at the beginning of his time in Vancouver that would soon see him challenging Luongo for the starting job, put up very strong numbers in his appearances this season, a second-year goalie would be hard-pressed to do what Luongo was doing that season.
Luongo’s performances with Canada also live on in the minds of Canucks fans, who got to experience something few fans around the NHL have ever gotten to witness; their team's goalie leading their country to Olympic glory. The iconic photos of Luongo waving the Canadian flag high above the ice as he skated a victory lap around the ice after securing the Gold Medal is still a favourite of many Canucks fans, and can even be seen in mural form in the upper bowl concourse at Rogers Arena. While Luongo would only make a single appearance for Canada at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Canucks fans like myself and many of my friends were still thrilled to have another chance to watch Luongo and fellow Canuck Dan Hamhuis represent our country on the Olympic stage once again.
Stories of Luongo’s greatness can even come from before his time as a Canuck. My dad has told me many times of him and a group of friends going to a bar in Las Vegas to watch Canada play at the 1999 World Juniors and being amazed by the performances of the Canadian goaltender whom none of them were familiar with at the beginning of the game. Little did they know that this netminder, Roberto Luongo, would be backstopping their favourite team in just a few short years. For this small group of Canucks fans, the deep connection Luongo would go on to develop with the fans in Vancouver began a few years ahead of schedule.
Of course, it’s impossible to talk about Luongo’s time in Vancouver without bringing up some of the less pleasant experiences of his tenure here, particularly the way the eventual trade that saw him return to the Panthers hit some young fans, such as myself, like a train. Growing up, Roberto Luongo was always my favourite player. From the athleticism he displayed on some of his saves blowing the mind of a young hockey fan just beginning to learn the sport, to having a name that a younger version of Alex thought was very fun to (often incorrectly) say, there was nothing not to love about this endearing figure protecting the Canucks net. This larger-than-life personality combined with elite play made Luongo such a memorable part of my and many others formative years as a Canucks fan, and it’s safe to say that without Roberto Luongo, I would not have the passion for hockey that I do today. This is what made trading Luongo away such a hard pill to swallow. However, that didn’t mean that the love Canucks fans had for Luongo went away.
In Luongo’s few appearances in Vancouver after the trade, it was like he hadn’t been gone for a day. The “LOUU” chants that came following big saves during his time in Vancouver rained down as they did during his tenure as a Canuck, and they even made an appearance recently when Thatcher Demko made big stops on the evening of Luongo’s induction into the Ring of Honour. Even with Luongo no longer a Canuck on the ice, he was, and will always be, a Canuck in the eyes of the fans.
While many Canucks fans would have preferred to see Luongo’s number 1 retired by the team, it was nice to see the legendary goaltender finally receive some sort of recognition from the club for everything he did during his time here. Roberto Luongo is the greatest goaltender the Canucks have ever had, and possibly the greatest they will ever have unless Demko has something to say about it, and ignoring this was simply not an option for the organization. His name in the rafters may be a more justified reward for a player of Luongo’s calibre, but for now, fans should be happy that Bobby Lou has finally been given some recognition by the Canucks for his tenure. Now, the best thing the Canucks can do to honour Luongo would be to listen to how the man ended his speech after his induction. As Luongo put it while “LOUU” chants rained down from the fans, “Free the skate jersey.”