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Roberto Luongo

Born:April 4, 1979Draft:1997 Islanders #4 Overall
Hometown:Montréal, QCPosition:Goaltender
Known For:Hall of FameCatches:Left
National Team:Canada

Roberto Luongo (/luˈɒŋɡoʊ/, Italian: [ˈlwɔŋɡo], Neapolitan: [ˈlwoŋɡə]; born April 4, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, and the Vancouver Canucks. Luongo is a two-time NHL Second Team All-Star (2004 and 2007) and a winner of the William M. Jennings Trophy for backstopping his team to the lowest goals-against average in the league (2011, with backup Cory Schneider). He was a finalist for several awards, including the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender (2004, 2007, and 2011), the Lester B. Pearson Award as the top player voted by his peers (2004 and 2007), and the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s most valuable player (2007). Luongo is second all-time in games played as an NHL goaltender (1,044) and third all-time in wins (489). He employed the butterfly style of goaltending.

In his first season in Vancouver, Luongo won 47 games and was runner-up in voting for both the Hart Memorial Trophy (league MVP) and Vezina Trophy (best goaltender). Following his second year with the Canucks, he became the first NHL goaltender to serve as a team captain since Bill Durnan in the 1947–48 season. Luongo served in that capacity for two seasons before resigning from the position in September 2010. In the subsequent 2010–11 season, he helped the Canucks to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals but lost to the Boston Bruins. During his eight-year tenure with Vancouver, Luongo became the team’s all-time leader in wins and shutouts. He returned to the Panthers during the 2013–14 season, where he spent the remainder of his career, qualifying for the playoffs with the Panthers only once during that time.

Internationally, Luongo has competed for Team Canada in numerous tournaments. As a junior, he won a silver medal at the 1999 World Junior Championships, while being named Best Goaltender in his second tournament appearance. Luongo won two gold medals at the 2003 and 2004 World Championships and a silver in the 2005 World Championships. He also won the 2004 World Cup championship and appeared in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin as a backup to Martin Brodeur in both instances. He succeeded Brodeur as Canada’s starting goaltender during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, winning a gold medal. On January 7, 2014, he was named to the 2014 Canadian Olympic hockey team, where he won his second Olympic gold medal in a largely backup role to Carey Price.

Years as an NHL Player: 1999-2019

Years as an NHL Executive: 2019-present

Florida Panthers Roberto Luongo
Florida Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo (AP Photo/Joel Auerbach, File)

Roberto Luongo Statistics

Trade Tracker

DateTraded FromTraded WithTraded ToTraded For
June 24, 2000New York IslandersOlli JokinenFlorida PanthersOleg Kvasha
Mark Parrish
June 23, 2006Florida PanthersSixth-Round Pick
(Sergei Shirokov)
Lukas Krajicek
Vancouver CanucksBryan Allen
Alex Auld
Todd Bertuzzi
March 4, 2014Vancouver CanucksSteven AnthonyFlorida PanthersJakob Markstrom
Shawn Matthias

Deeper Dive

Staff History

  • Florida Panthers (Special Assistant to the GM) 2019-present
  • Team Canada (World Championships GM) 2021-present
  • Team Canada (Winter Olympics Assistant GM) 2021-present

Achievements

  • Canucks Ring of Honour (2023)
  • Hockey Hall of Fame (2022)
  • Captain of the Canucks (2008-2010)
  • Jersey number 1 was retired by the Panthers in 2020
  • Played in the NHL All-Star Game five times (2004, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2016)
  • Olympic Gold Medal with Team Canada (2014)
  • NHL Lowest GA (Jennings Trophy) (2011)
  • NHL Second All-Star Team (2004, 2007)
  • World Cup Gold Medal (2005)
  • World Championship Silver Medal (2005)
  • Two-time World Championship Gold Medalist (2003, 2004)
  • NHL YoungStars Roster (2002)
  • Two-time QMJHL Champion (1998, 1999)
  • U20 World Junior Championship All-Star Team (1999)
  • U20 WJC Best Goaltender (1999)
  • U20 WJC Silver Medal (1999)
  • QMJHL Best Professional Prospect (Mike Bossy Trophy) (1997)

Sources