Confirmed with Link: Canucks to induct G Roberto Luongo into Ring of Honour on Dec 14 vs. FLA

[Mr. Canucklehead]

One of the all-time great Canucks. Should be a great night!

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[geebster]

Should have his jersey retired here in my opinion, but glad they are honouring him. Might go for the bobblehead

 

[Kryten]

Should have his jersey retired here in my opinion, but glad they are honouring him. Might go for the bobblehead

If he won the cup, sure. But with McLean also being known as wearing 1, the best goalie number. He was one crucial win short

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

I'm kind of either way on Luongo. Wouldn't mind them retiring his jersey, don't mind them doing ROH either. His Canuck accomplishments line up fairly similarly to Kirk McLean's, who's in the ROH.

Either way - glad they're honouring one of our greatest.

 

[strattonius]

If he won the cup, sure. But with McLean also being known as wearing 1, the best goalie number. He was one crucial win short

Roberto has a more established and impressive career and he was also a more influential person to the Canucks. The fact he was named captain really says it all - even though naming the goalie your captain ended up a poor decision.

Comparing McLean and Luongo because they both made it to the SC g7 is really missing the point.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Correct choice..great player for the team..Not worthy of a jersey retirement though.

His jersey was retired by the Panthers , so he did ultimately get his number raised to the rafters.

 

[geebster]

Roberto has a more established and impressive career and he was also a more influential person to the Canucks. The fact he was named captain really says it all - even though naming the goalie your captain ended up a poor decision.

Comparing McLean and Luongo because they both made it to the SC g7 is really missing the point.

Also... none of the jerseys hanging in our rafters won the cup. So that's not a reasonable standard to have for it. He changed our team the moment he got here. He was as or more important than anyone for that era of the team.

 

[tradervik]

I hate being a sourpuss but the Canucks have been way too liberal in doling out the retired jerseys. Ring of honour for Lou is fine although I was never his biggest fan.

 

[Kryten]

he was by far the best goalie to ever play for us. But he only spent half his career here, left on many sour notes, and wears #1. Weirdly if he wore any other number Id be okay with it

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

I remember thinking this franchise was all set after the 2006-2007 campaign. That was the best goaltending this franchise has ever seen in a single season. You literally used to feel comfort in going up 2-0 some games when Luongo was dialed in, because you knew the other team wasn't going to get multiple goals past him.

At the end of the day, he was an elite regular season goaltender that had his moments in the playoffs which were remembered for all the wrong reasons. He was associated with some of the worst demoralizing losses and collapses we have seen. Not saying that's completely accurate because the entire team would get caved in during these moments. Boston, LA and Chicago were just straight up elite teams, and post-season injuries really screwed this team over those years too.

I think Ring of Honor is a good place for him. I hate the precedence that has been set from seeing some banners up in the rafters though because there's a case to be made that he belongs up there.

 

[Pure West]

ROH makes sense for him. He's the greatest Canuck goalie, and you could even make a case as the greatest Canuck of all time in terms of on-ice accomplishments. With MVP and Vezina noms and a stellar 8 seasons that are as consistent as any at his position during that time. Where he falls short of jersey retirement is that he wasn't fully invested in being a Vancouverite. He did his job, was a true pro, and I can't say he avoided any responsibilities of being a Canuck, but he was on the first flight outta town as soon as the season ended. That's where the Sedins, Linden and Naslund have him beat. He really wanted to be in Florida, but was here because it gave him a chance at the Stanley Cup.

 

[EpochLink]

Luongo’s first season was amazing then after that it was a hit and miss. He was never fully invested with the community of Vancouver unlike The Sedins, Naslund, Linden was. He had own foot out the door once the season was over, lived in Florida and will remain there until he gets another opportunity elsewhere.

 

[Petey O]

ROH is fine. His heart is set in Florida anyways.

 

[Bojack Horvatman]

I think it would be better if they put his face on the $1 coin instead of Queen Elizabeth II, and called it the Lu-nie.

 

[StreetHawk]

I'm kind of either way on Luongo. Wouldn't mind them retiring his jersey, don't mind them doing ROH either. His Canuck accomplishments line up fairly similarly to Kirk McLean's, who's in the ROH.

Either way - glad they're honouring one of our greatest.

Prefer ROH which is right for him.

 

[Nucker101]

Just keep the high bar then. To me it should be a HOF player who played the majority of his prime here, personally I’d say Luongo barely qualifies so I would’ve retired his number and the Sedins. Bure similar to Luongo would be debatable. The rest wouldn’t qualify.

 

[TomWillander1RD]

I strongly believe retiring his jersey number is not the right choice. In my view, his contributions as a Canuck do not warrant this honor. Perhaps my lingering disappointment stems from his decision to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a member of the Florida Panthers. Furthermore, the fact that the number 1 is exclusively reserved for goaltenders makes me hopeful that it will be retired in the future in recognition of a goaltender who leads us to a Stanley Cup (hoping we'll witness the retirement of jersey no 35 before ).

As another poster pointed out above, he was associated with many of the most devastating collapses in the team's history and often became the subject of ridicule, with nicknames like "7uongo" and "Luon8o." While it's not entirely fair to blame him for these collapses, it's one of the reasons why I think ROH is the right move.

 

[Jay26]

Just keep the high bar then. To me it should be a HOF player who played the majority of his prime here, personally I’d say Luongo barely qualifies so I would’ve retired his number and the Sedins. Bure similar to Luongo would be debatable. The rest wouldn’t qualify.

Yeah this is how I view it. Judging by the responses in this thread people have a very different criteria for retiring numbers though. Like no offense to our past alumni but if we can't retire Luongo's number why are we retiring Stan Smyl and Markus Naslund lol? I guess my criteria for it is where you stack up among the all time greats. Like you said, if it were up to me our retired numbers would be the Sedins and Luongo because they were the greatest players who ever played for this franchise. Not by Canuck standards but by league standards.

That being said, some good points are being made about Luongo's shortcomings specifically as a Vancouverite. It feels awkward to retire his number if his heart was always in Florida.

 

[Play]

I remember thinking this franchise was all set after the 2006-2007 campaign.

I mean it was pretty much set

 

[MikeK]

Well deserved. The best goalie we've ever had to date. It sure was a great time during the mid to late 2000s. I miss that era terribly.

Jersey retirement is an interesting debate for me. He was a heck of a goalie for this Franchise and definitely the best we've seen so far. But he did spend a good portion of his career playing for another club before he got here and another good chunk after he left. All in he spent more time playing for another club than he did here. I think RoH is enough to acknowledge he service. I'm a huge Luongo fan but do not think jersey retirement is appropriate.

 

[Slapshot_11]

I miss those teams with luo, sedins, kes etc so bad

 

[Peter Griffin]

His jersey was retired by the Panthers , so he did ultimately get his number raised to the rafters.

Further to this, only 9 players in history have had their jersey number retired by two teams. Not sure Roberto falls into that category. Lots of great seasons for Vancouver but didn’t win any major awards while here, unless you count the Jennings he shared with Schneider. ROH seems appropriate.

 

[Huggy43]

If Naslund is up there, Luongo should be.

And that’s the problem with Nazzy being there in the first place. However imo even if he wasn’t; the number 1 should still be retired.

 

[iceburg]

I'm not sure how I feel about this. There's no doubt he was a key cog on some of the best teams in franchise history. But somehow this falls flat because I don't think he would identify Vancouver as his first team. At least it's not where he wanted to be at the end of his career.

I lean towards players who identify as career Canucks by choice getting this honor. That said, there's certainly an argument to be made based on performance alone.

I see two very different categories:

Players who were good performers and, by choice, would have stayed with the organization for their entire careers. To name a few:
-Bieksa
-Burrows
-Linden
-Tanev
-Edler

Players who were good performers but, by choice, wanted to move on:
-Kesler
-Bure
-Luongo

Now, there's no doubt that the circumstances around the team may have made staying unpalatable for these players. But there's something to be said about players who want to stay, be loyal to the fan base, in spite of the dynamics in the organization.

To me this is about the fans honouring the player because the player honoured them.

 

[SelltheTeamFrancesco]

If Loungo would have started in the Outdoor game then he would have been a lock.