Roberto Luongo’s Hall of Fame Selection The Strombone Chronicles: A Trip to the Hall

Roberto Luongo‘s Hall of Fame Selection in the class of 2022, for him, it really is the sum of all the parts. For instance, he speaks three languages fluently. As we shall see, there is much to the story of Luongo, but let’s focus on the hockey career that truly made the man a legend.

Roberto Luongo’s Hall of Fame Selection: The International Man of Mystery

To start with a recap of his brilliance in hockey, let us first take a look at his international accolades. To begin with, at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, Luongo was the starting goalie on a best-on-best Team Canada Victory.

As we see from the chart above, this in itself is a very exclusive club. In fact, only five other goalies in history can have that claim to fame. (If we ignore the two victories with goalies sharing the load). In other words, this means you were the best player at your position for the best country at that sport. Considering the fact of how prestigious it is that so few sports prize national and club success at such high standing. Yes, this was Luongo’s only best-on-best title as a starter, but it was Olympic gold on home ice of his club team at the time.

His longevity was evidenced by his appearances at best-on-best tournament victories. He also appears in the 2004 World Cup and the 2014 Olympics, giving him quite the span of proving himself as a top candidate. In addition, Luongo had success on the World Junior stage, backstopping Canada to a silver medal in the 1999 tournament. What stands out here, is the anomaly of Team Canada Junior goalies having success at the NHL level. Over the years, there has not been too many (Jose Theodore or Carey Price as a couple of examples).

The Canuck Chapter

Let’s ignore the Olympic Gold Medal on home soil in Vancouver in 2010 for a minute. Next, he managed to ride that momentum with a Stanley Cup Final appearance for his Canucks in 2011. The majority of his playing career highlights came as a member of the Vancouver Canucks. Luongo only compiled one playoff series triumph as a member of the Panthers. However, he did have a brilliant performance. In contrast, he would total 32 wins in 50 career playoff starts for the Canucks.

What was sharing the net with Roberto Luongo like?

Former Canucks’ Goaltender Cory Schneider joins #Canucks Central with @danriccio_ and @SatiarShah next to talk about that, his time with the Sedins, and more!

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— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) June 29, 2022

For regular season success, Luongo amassed a .618 winning percenrage in Vancouver. That’s compared against just .466 with the Panthers. His best four-year span throughout his career came with the Canucks between the 2008-09 and 2011-12 seasons, which topped out at .654%. Comparatively, so far through Andrei Vasilevskiy’s career, with two Stanley Cups, he has totaled a .659 win rate. The record with the Panthers is quite remarkable in itself. This is given the rebound he had after his lacklustre record early in his career before joining Vancouver for the start of the 2006-07 season.

The Man Behind the Mask

Bobby Lou, as his beloved fan base often referred to him, came to Vancouver which, for over a decade, had itself the reputation as the NHL’s “Goalie Graveyard.”

Let’s combine the fact that hockey fans in Vancouver have long been known to be overcritical. Understandably so, Luongo was not immune. He had to endure trade rumours, splitting time with Cory Schneider for a period, ridicule over the infamous overtime bathroom break, and the Torts Heritage Classic snub. However, Luongo’s stardom threw everyone for a loop, and he constantly was able to rise above it. For example, Luongo took the captaincy debate and wore it with pride. If he could not have it on his jersey he was putting his “C” on his mask. In summary, he was able to work through all the stress, and managed to endure success, along with finding a release.

Miss you buddy…..👬 pic.twitter.com/wjc5da78Ss

— Strombone (@strombone1) October 8, 2013

As unimaginable as it may seem, social media, in the forum of Twitter seemingly was his saving grace. Always a heart-on his sleeve type of guy, he could finally find a vessel to speak his mind. This is without the pressure of needing an immediate response. However, once the cameras were out of his face, he could go on Twitter and be thoughtful, humble, and dare say it, satirical. The only drama was, who was this mysterious figure from behind the mask of a keyboard. Moreover, he ultimately came out on top from the Torts battle after being traded just two days later. He would then go on to close off his career with some successful seasons in Florida and be closer to his family.

Roberto Luongo’s Hall of Fame Selection: His Time in the Sun

With all this, the argument could be made for Roberto Luongo’s Hall of Fame Selection to be as a member of the Florida Panthers. His 1,044 career regular season games played, which ranks second all-time (behind only Martin Brodeur at 1266). This came over a 19-year NHL career. From these amazing totals, 572 of these games were played for the team from the Sunshine State, which would be enough to constitute a mere mortal’s career. Interestingly enough, he had the same total .919 save percentage for each of the Canucks and Panthers. This total would sandwich him between a couple dudes you might have heard of; two-time Cup champion, Vasilevskiy, and ‘The King’ Henrik Lundqvist.

Another perspective, in that his career in South Florida wasn’t even necessarily about the numbers. He felt a strong connection there because of his family. It is also about what he did to grow the sport down there, through some tumultuous years for the organization. In addition, when he came back to the Panthers, he helped begin the metamorphosis into the new edition of the Panthers. Today’s version is one that today competes with its cross-state rivals.

In summary, Luongo’s greatness may always be understated. The fact that he didn’t end up with a Cup only extenuates that notion. He was a dominant Team Canada performer. He battled through adversity for much of his professional career, whether it was the weak team in front of him in Florida or the unnecessary pressure of playing in Van City. Still, Luongo would always set the bar a little higher, and always rise with ease and confidence. Welcome, Strombone, to hockey’s Graceland, the Hall of Fame class of 2022 along with longtime teammates Henrik and Daniel Sedin.

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