Roberto Luongo Traded To Vancouver Canucks
Sep 28th, 2007
Last time I talked about Roberto Loungo’s early days; now I will talk about how he got to Vancouver to play for the Canucks.
His fans were both shocked and outraged when the General Manager for the Islanders Mike Milbury traded him in 2000 to the Florida Panthers. He would spend five seasons there. In 2000-2001, Luongo played a total of 47 games as a Florida Panther and boasted a .920 save percentage. In 2002-2003, Roberto stopped 91.8% of the pucks he faced (over 2000!) and he placed second in 2004 for the Vezina Trophy. That year, he faced more pucks than any goaltender in history and still had a .931 save percentage. He also set an NHL record for the most saves- he had 2303 that year and picked up 7 shutouts.
Luongo was supposed to sign on again with Florida for 2006-2007, but he was traded to Vancouver, along with two other players. He signed on with Vancouver for a four year, $27 million dollar deal.
Luongo made the NHL All-Star team as a starter for the Western Conference. It was his second time to make the All-Stars, but his first time as a starter. He pushed the Canucks to the playoffs (their first since 2004), only to lose to the Anaheim Ducks, holders of the Stanley Cup.
He came into his own in Vancouver, with an impressive string of victories and awards. In March of 2007, he became the 20th goaltender in NHL history to to have more than 40 wins in a single season. After the season end, Roberto Luongo was nominated for three NHL awards; Hart, Pearson and Veznia.