Vancouver Canucks honour newly minted Hall of Famers Luongo, Sedins
Cheers of "Luuuuu!" once again rang out at Vancouver's Rogers Arena on Thursday as the Canucks honoured a trio of former players.
The familiar oratory ovations came as former goalie Roberto Luongo stood at centre ice with his former teammates, Daniel and Henrik Sedin. All three were recognized for their recent inductions to the Hockey Hall of Fame before a game between the Canucks and Florida Panthers.
Luongo thanked the standing crowd for supporting the trio.
"On a personal note, I really wanted to thank you guys for pushing me to be a better goaltender, pushing me to be a better person every single night," he added.
Video tributes narrated by former coach Alain Vigneault played on the big screen and each of the three players received a traditional blanket from First Nations leaders. Flanked by the Sedins, Luongo performed the ceremonial puck drop.
Rogers Arena has long held a special place for Luongo.
It's the rink where he backstopped Team Canada to Olympic gold in 2010 and the venue where he and his Canucks teammates reached the Stanley Cup final in 2011 before falling in Game 7 to the Boston Bruins.
"Those playoff runs, those were the best moments of my career," the netminder told reporters earlier on Thursday. "So I want to be able to kind of relive them a little bit here, the next little while and take it in and thank the fans for everything. I think it's a nice way to cap it all off."
It won't be the last time the 43-year-old Montreal native is recognized before a Vancouver crowd. The Canucks announced Wednesday that he'll join the team's Ring of Honour next season.
"It's a great honour. I'm really excited about it," said Luongo, who now serves as Florida's director of goaltending and as a special adviser to general manager Bill Zito. "It's nice to see that the work that I put in here for eight years is going to get recognized and I'm very grateful to be able to go up there with those guys."
Originally drafted fourth overall by the New York Islanders in 1997, Luongo spent eight seasons with the Canucks.
During his time in Vancouver, the team made the playoffs five seasons in a row. It was a special group that made that run, the netminder said.
"It was unbelievable," he said. "And sometimes when you're in it, you don't kind of realize it. But then you move on, you play for other teams, teams change. And now that you look back, it's like you realize how special the group was and it was a unique group, right?
"We had different types of personalities in the locker room. And I think that's what made us so good."
Luongo closed out his career with the Panthers, spending five seasons in Florida's crease before announcing his retirement after the 2018-19 season.
He remains the Canucks' franchise leader in wins (252) and shutouts (38), and tops the list in save percentage (.919) and goals-against average (2.36) among goalies who played at least 100 games.
That success has prompted many in Vancouver to muse about whether his jersey should be retired -- a decision Luongo said is out of his control.
He told the crowd Thursday night that neither honour is at the top of his mind.
"I know there's a lot of debate about the Ring of Honour and the (jersey retirement) but that stuff doesn't matter to me," he said. "What matters to me is moments like this and sharing it with you guys."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Still so much love between us,' Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
What to know about avian influenza in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
opinion The special relationship between King Charles and the Princess of Wales
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Pro-plastic lobbyist presence at UN talks is 'troubling,' say advocates
Environmentalist groups are sounding the alarm about a steep increase in the number of pro-plastic lobbyists at the UN pollution talks taking place this week.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
$70M Lotto Max winners kept prize a secret from family for 2 months
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Trump's lawyers grill ex-tabloid publisher as 1st week of hush money trial testimony nears a close
After prosecutors' lead witness painted a tawdry portrait of “catch-and-kill” tabloid schemes, defence lawyers in Donald Trump's criminal trial on Friday sought to dig into an account of the former publisher of the National Enquirer and his efforts to protect Trump from negative stories during the 2016 election.