From the moment he laced up a pair of skates, Luongo wanted to be a goaltender. For the longest time, though, his parents had other ideas. They wanted Luongo to develop his skating, so for years they forced him to play other positions.
It wasn't until after Luongo was cut from a pee-wee team, and the goalie on the team he eventually landed with failed to show for a game, that Luongo found his way into the crease. At 11 years old he immediately looked like a natural as he got a shutout.
From the moment he laced up a pair of skates, Luongo wanted to be a goaltender. For the longest time, though, his parents had other ideas. They wanted Luongo to develop his skating, so for years they forced him to play other positions.
It wasn't until after Luongo was cut from a pee-wee team, and the goalie on the team he eventually landed with failed to show for a game, that Luongo found his way into the crease. At 11 years old he immediately looked like a natural as he got a shutout.
The rest is history. Or maybe it was fate.
A native of Saint-Leonard, Quebec, who grew up just four blocks from Hall of Fame goalie Martin Brodeur, Luongo played for the same midget team as Brodeur.
Luongo has often been in close proximity to Brodeur on the international stage as well. He was the backup to Brodeur on Team Canada in the 2004 World Cup and the 2006 Olympics, and he succeeded Brodeur as Canada's starting goalie during the 2010 Winter Olympics, where Canada won gold.
Fluent in English, French and Italian, Luongo played his junior hockey for Val-d'Or, which made him the highest drafted goaltender in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League history when it selected him with the No. 2 pick in the 1995 QMJHL Draft.
Two years later, Luongo became the highest drafted goaltender in NHL history when he was selected No. 4 by the New York Islanders in the 1997 NHL Draft, but he was surpassed three years later when the New York Islanders selected Rick DiPietro at No. 1 in the 2000 NHL Draft.
Luongo played one season with the Islanders and was traded to the Florida Panthers, playing five seasons with them. On June 23, 2006, the Panthers traded Luongo to the Vancouver Canucks, and in his first season (2006-07) with them he won 47 games and finished second in both the Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy voting.
Luongo was with the Canucks for seven-plus seasons, winning 252 of 367 games, including an NHL-best 38 in 2910-11, and had a 2.36 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.
On March 4, 2014, the Canucks traded Luongo back to the Panthers.
