Confirmed with Link: Roberto Luongo has retired

[passive voice]

(Doesn't appear to be a dedicated thread yet? I think it deserves it, apart from the trade/cap considerations which, here)


The best goalie in Canucks history--and the best Tweeter in Athlete History--hangs em up. Goes out (more or less) on his own terms. Absolute legend.

Click to read more...

 

[THE Green Man]

Congratulations to Roberto Luongo on a HOF career- so many good memories, but just a shame that 1 more win never came when it mattered. ROH should come in a few years.

 

[MikeK]

HHoFer in my books. From the moment he came to Vancouver we instantly went from a bubble team to a perennial contender. Best goalie this franchise has ever had. Congrats on one heck of a career, Lu.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Damn, was hoping he'd hit 500 wins next season.

 

[DownGoesMcDavid]

What a career !!

Easy strut into the Hall of Fame .

Canucks will also retire his number.

Congrats to one of the best to lace em up!

We were spoiled with greatness yet in the moment ,I dont think we fully understood how amazing we had it. Ala Sedins

 

[Nuckles]

Amazing goalie who got far too much of the blame from the fanbase in his time here. It's a shame he went out the way he did (*cough* Torts *cough*).

Also the league not grandfathering in contracts before the recapture rule was bullshit. $3,033,206 cap penalty for the next three seasons.

 

[canuckfan75]

Not his biggest fan. did not come up with the goods when we really needed him. a very good regular season goalie. but when the chips where down he folded .. but wish him the best. PS - this is my opinion. I will not go back and forth with anyone on this

 

[tyhee]

This also means that the Canucks will have to shed some salary to be able to afford to overpay whomever their target is as a defensive "upgrade" next week (though they could choose to sign their guy and trust they'll be able to shed the necessary cap space before the season starts. VGK are already $7.5 million over the cap for next season.)

The bright side is that we know the recapture can't be worse as it would be if Luongo waited another year or two before retiring.

 

[Elias GOATtersson]

Not his biggest fan. did not come up with the goods when we really needed him. a very good regular season goalie. but when the chips where down he folded .. but wish him the best. PS - this is my opinion. I will not go back and forth with anyone on this

Luongo is the only reason we went as far as we did back then. Don't post if you don't want people to respond.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Greatest goalie in franchise history. Hockey Hall of Famer. Should have his jersey retired based on the bar this organization has set.

 

[PG Canuck]

Legend, absolute legend. Best Canucks goalie ever and it's not really close, if I'm concerned. I'm emotional today by this news...a lot of us are losing a childhood hero and a player that was a staple to the Canucks brand for a long time. I'm happy he broke out of his shell and embraced us with his humour on Twitter - it only brought more love towards him and provided us insight on the person he is. He went through his ups-and-downs here and wasn't treated the best at times by both fans and management but I think it's fairly safe to say he is universally loved.

Unfortunate we couldn't seal the deal with him as our backbone because he would've been the saviour to this city for time unknown, and really, he should be viewed that way regardless.

Hope Lu can get his body feeling right again, crazy what he had to do to try and get his body into game shape last year. Mentally, he seemed just extremely tired of having to rehab hours before games and practices to try and feel slightly better and it chewed away at his drive for the game.

Cheers Lu - I'm sure there will be some time before we have another one like you here in Vancouver.

 

[thekernel]

I'll never forget the gold medal on home ice, thanks for all the memories Roberto

 

[Addison Rae]

Luongo was the first hockey player I ever idolized, the first player jersey I ever bought. I remember being 9 the day the Canucks acquired him in 2006 and being ridiculously excited for him.

Man, watching all these great players from 2011 retire really stings, that was the best team we ever had and probably will ever have.

 

[Bitz and Bites]

This also means that the Canucks will have to shed some salary to be able to afford to overpay whomever their target is as a defensive "upgrade" next week.

The bright side is that we know the recapture can't be worse as it would be if Luongo waited another year or two before retiring.

I wonder if Benning and crew are even aware of in incoming penalty.Hopefully someone from the league lets them know.

Yeah,the upside is this might prevent Benning from signing multiple big money long term deals which will come back to haunt the franchise sooner or later.

 

[Balls Mahoney]

Greatest player I ever watched in a Canucks jersey. At his peak, you could argue he was the best player in the world. Carried horrible Panthers and Canucks teams through many seasons. Incredible man, too. Always humorous and enjoyable in his public appearances. Excellent player and human being, I will miss him in the game.

 

[THE Green Man]

With his personality I can't wait to see what he does next. Don Cherry's replacement on Hockey Night? Hopefully Biz and co. have him on Spittin' Chiclets soon too.

 

[DL44]

Legend.
Best goalie we'll probably ever see in a Canuck jersey.

 

[Melvin]

I wonder if Benning and crew are even aware of in incoming penalty.Hopefully someone from the league lets them know.

Yeah,the upside is this might prevent Benning from signing multiple big money long term deals which will come back to haunt the franchise sooner or later.

Really doubt he's actually filing retirement papers. He will likely go on ltir like everyone else. His bad hip is clearly the reason for this decision as he mentions in his open letter.

Just because a player announces they are "retiring" doesn't literally mean they are filing the papers. See Dorsett.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

FFFF you aqualinis. i'd rather give the $3.6 million left on my contract back to the insurance companies just to spite you slumlords.

 

[rypper]

3rd all time in Goalie wins. I believe if he played out his contract he would have taken 2nd.

I remember when we traded for him, just the feeling of excitement, not knowing a ton about him but knowing he was a legit superstar goalie. The press conference with Willie Mitchell etc. Just the best goalie, one of the best players the team has ever known. I imagine he'll find himself a spot on tv or whatever he wants to do eventually in retirement.

 

[tyhee]

Really doubt he's actually filing retirement papers. He will likely go on ltir like everyone else. His bad hip is clearly the reason for this decision as he mentions in his open letter.

Just because a player announces they are "retiring" doesn't literally mean they are filing the papers. See Dorsett.

On the other hand, news reports about the announcement talk of the recapture penalties that will be incurred, and Luongo's open letter to the Florida fans making the announcement doesn't say he's injured and can't play, just that it takes too much time and he's not prepared to continue to make the commitment to prepare to play that had been necessary since his hip surgery a couple of years ago.

Panthers' Roberto Luongo announces retirement after 19 seasons - Sportsnet.ca
and
https://www.tsn.ca/florida-panthers-g-roberto-luongo-announces-retirement-on-twitter-1.1328927

 

[Bunch of Jurcos]

Congrats on a great career of one of the greatest to ever play goal. I just wish he'd gotten you guys a ring to top it all off. He will be missed.

 

[PG Canuck]

Luongo's all-time stats in the NHL:

GP - 1044 (2nd)
Wins - 489 (3rd)
SV% - 0.919 (11th) - at least minimum 200 GP
SO - 77 (9th)
Minutes Played - 59,887 (3rd)

Luongo's stats in the Canucks organization:

GP - 448 (2nd)
Wins - 252 (1st)
SV% - 0.919 (2nd)
SO - 38 (1st)
Minutes Played - 26,169 (2nd)

 

[Tinhorn1]

When we traded for him, that was the first time I ever really remembering feeling like, "Oh, we've got a chance." He was the real deal and a great guy to cheer for.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Congratulations to Luongo on a fantastic career. One of the best to wear Canuck colours for sure. Thanks for the memories and enjoy a well earned retirement.