With the retirement of Robert Luongo, it’s time to reassess how to judge the careers of goaltenders. In the case of the New York Rangers, of course that means Henrik Lundqvist.
With the retirement of Roberto Luongo, it leaves Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights as the standard bearers for goalie excellence. Stanley Cup championships have long been the criteria for judging a hockey player’s career. it may be time to change that.
Roberto Luongo retired this week after 19 years in the NHL. He leaves in third place among all NHL goalies with 489 wins, behind only Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy. He is second all time in games played (1,044) and is ninth in career shutouts (77).
He won gold medals at the Olympics and the World Championships. He won the William Jennings Trophy (lowest GAA) in 2011 and he played in five All-Star Games.
He faced 30,924 shots and made 28,409 saves, second all-time in both categories.
He is a member of the exclusive club of good players traded away from the Islanders by Mike Milbury. Others include Zdeno Chara, Olli Jokinen, Bryan McCabe, Bryan Berard, J.P. Dumont and Tommy Salo. Remember that list the next time Milbury provides his “expert” opinion on NBC.
Luongo also maintains a reputation as one of the funniest purveyors of social media. His retirement tweet is just the latest example.
I’ve decided to take my talents to a South Beach retirement home ✌🏼 pic.twitter.com/BTuZIo8XT8
— Strombone (@strombone1) June 26, 2019
There is one thing he has not done.
He has not won a Stanley Cup.
The elusive Stanley Cup
By not winning the Cup in 19 years, he joins a select group of NHL goaltenders who have not achieved hockey nirvana. That group includes Henrik Lundqvist, Carey Price, Ryan Miller and Pekka Rinne, all fabulous goalies who will warrant Hall of Fame consideration, but are disparaged because they haven’t won a Stanley Cup.
Arguably, the four finest goaltenders of the post-lockout era are Luongo, Lundqvist, Price and Fleury and only one of them has won it all.
Marc-Andre Fleury backstopped the Pittsburgh Penguins to one Stanley Cup win and was the backup on two other Pittsburgh championships teams. Two of other three made it to the Finals, but fell short. Close only counts in horseshoes, but maybe it should in hockey.
Which goalies have won the cup?