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Well the deal is official, the Panthers are getting Roberto Luongo back. And, the Canucks are eating a portion of the salary -- as expected.
Below, in italics, is the Panthers' official release. Under than are comments from Luongo to media before he left for the airport for a flight to South Florida.
G Roberto Luongo Returns to Florida Panthers
Florida Re-Acquires Three-Time NHL-All Star & Vezina Trophy Finalist
SUNRISE, Fla. - Florida Panthers Executive Vice President and General Manager Dale Tallon announce today that the club has acquired G Roberto Luongo and F Steven Anthony from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for F Shawn Matthias and G Jacob Markstrom.
“Roberto is one of the game’s elite goaltenders and we are happy to welcome him back to South Florida,” said Tallon. “With this acquisition, we have solidified our goaltending depth with a top-tiered netminder for the next several seasons. Roberto is a three-time Vezina finalist, who has experienced tremendous success throughout his 13-year playing career, which includes six post-season appearances, including the Stanley Cup finals, two Olympic Gold Medals and three All-Star selections. We look forward to his contributions to our club on the ice as well as his continued philanthropic efforts in the South Florida community.”
Luongo, 34, has played in 789 career National Hockey League games for NY Islanders (1999-2000), Florida (2002-2006) and Vancouver (2006-2014) posting a 367-305-92 mark with a 2.51 GAA, a .919 save percentage and 65 shutouts. He ranks second among active goaltending leaders in wins (367), saves (21,487) and shutouts (65). He also places third among active goaltending leaders in games played (789).
The three-time Vezina Finalist (2004, 2007 & 2011) has played in 64 postseason games, all with Vancouver, posting a 32-31 mark with a 2.54 GAA, leading the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals during the 2010-2011 season. Luongo, was also awarded the William M. Jennings Trophy in 2011 (the goalkeeper(s) having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it).
The Montreal, Quebec native currently ranks first among Panthers’ goaltender leaders in several all-time categories including career games played (317), single season games played (75), career wins (108), single season wins (35), and career shutouts (26). He also own Florida’s single season records for most saves (2,303 in 2003-2004), most minutes played (4,304 in 2005-2006) and consecutive scoreless minutes (182:37 in 2004).
Luongo has represented Canada numerous times on the international stage, appearing in the last three Winter Olympics (2006, 2010 & 2014). He won the Gold Medal at both the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics. During the 2010 Winter Games, Luongo posted a 5-0 mark with one shutout and a 1.76 GAA. He also won Gold at the World Championships (2003 & 2004) and World Cup (2004).
Luongo was drafted by the NY Islanders with their first choice (fourth overall) in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft.
Anthony, 22, was drafted by Vancouver in the seventh round in 2009 NHL Entry Draft. A Hailifax, Nova Scotia native, Anthony played his junior hockey with the Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL). He most recently spent time playing for the Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL) and St. Charles Chill (CHL).
Roberto Luongo’s Career Statistics:
Season Team Lge GP Min GA EN SO GAA W L T Svs Pct
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1995-96 Val d'Or Foreurs QMJHL 23 1199 74 0 0 3.70 6 11 4 534 0.878
1996-97 Val d'Or Foreurs QMJHL 60 3305 171 0 2 3.10 32 21 2 1571 0.902
1997-98 Val d'Or Foreurs QMJHL 54 3046 157 0 7 3.09 27 20 5 1390 0.899
1998-99 Acadie-Bathurst Titan QMJHL 22 1342 74 2 0 3.31 14 7 1 690 0.903
1999-00 Lowell Lock Monsters AHL 26 1517 74 1 1 2.93 10 12 4 733 0.908
1999-00 New York Islanders NHL 24 1292 70 2 1 3.25 7 14 1 660 0.904
2000-01 Louisville Panthers AHL 3 178 10 0 0 3.38 1 2 0 111 0.917
2000-01 Florida Panthers NHL 47 2628 107 6 5 2.44 12 24 7 1226 0.920
2001-02 Florida Panthers NHL 58 3030 140 4 4 2.77 16 33 4 1513 0.915
2002-03 Florida Panthers NHL 65 3627 164 7 6 2.71 20 34 7 1847 0.918
2003-04 Florida Panthers NHL 73 4251 172 7 7 2.43 25 33 14 2303 0.931
2005-06 Florida Panthers NHL 75 4305 213 4 4 2.97 35 30 9 2275 0.914
2006-07 Vancouver Canucks NHL 76 4490 171 3 5 2.28 47 22 6 1998 0.921
2007-08 Vancouver Canucks NHL 73 4233 168 3 6 2.38 35 29 9 1861 0.917
2008-09 Vancouver Canucks NHL 54 3181 124 5 9 2.34 33 13 7 1418 0.920
2009-10 Vancouver Canucks NHL 68 3899 167 4 4 2.57 40 22 4 1748 0.913
2010-11 Vancouver Canucks NHL 60 3590 126 3 4 2.11 38 15 7 1627 0.928
2011-12 Vancouver Canucks NHL 55 3162 127 2 5 2.41 31 14 8 1450 0.919
2012-13 Vancouver Canucks NHL 20 1197 51 0 2 2.56 9 6 3 500 0.907
2013-14 Vancouver Canucks NHL 42 2418 96 0 3 2.38 19 16 6 1061 0.917
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Steven Anthony’s Career Statistics:
---Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
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2007-08 Saint John Sea Dogs QMJHL 55 6 8 14 38 10 1 1 2 2
2008-09 Saint John Sea Dogs QMJHL 67 19 29 48 47 4 1 2 3 4
2009-10 Saint John Sea Dogs QMJHL 61 18 23 41 28 5 0 0 0 6
2010-11 Saint John Sea Dogs QMJHL 61 23 37 60 23 14 5 7 12 12
2011-12 Kalamazoo Wings ECHL 34 8 12 20 28 -- -- -- -- --
2012-13 Kalamazoo Wings ECHL 41 3 8 11 10 -- -- -- -- --
2013-14 St. Charles Chill CHL 33 4 10 14 10
ROBERTO LUONGO
I was not expecting it. Go figure, right? I'm really out of words right now. This caught me off guard. This is good for myself and my family, but I'm a little sad to be leaving Vancouver.
It's nice, it's home. It's going to be a little tough to get in this season but we'll have to deal with that. The new ownership there is committed to winning and there are some good young players there. This is a good opportunity for me.
I didn't know what was going on at all. I was actually taking a nice pregame nap getting ready to play. It was kind of weird.
Listen. I thought my contract was untradable. It hurt I didn't play in that game but I was ready to play tonight. I moved on, was ready to go. I wasn't expecting this to happen especially not today.
Things happen and I've had to deal with them. To be quite honest, I felt really good today, felt like I was going to have a good game. I think I did a good job of putting things behind me and moving on.
Obviously a lot of great things happened here. We had a great run and unfortunately fell a little short. That's the one that's going to hurt me for a while. I wish we could have done more to win that game. All in all, it was a great run. There was a lot that happened in between, but nothing but good things to say about the fans who were really supportive -- especially at the end. It didn't go unnoticed. This organization took me to another level. It's all positive stuff.
On Tim Thomas: Yeah I did. We'll see how that goes, right?
It's tough for everyone, involved in this process. They had tough decisions to make. I can understand that. I understand management has tough decisions to make. When they were made, I tried to handle them as best I could. And right when I let my guard down, what do you know, a trade happens. That's the way it goes.
I spoke to a few guys, but obviously I have a flight to catch. They play in Florida in a few weeks, so I'll see you there.
I haven't had a chance to think about it but it's going to weird for sure. I don't know how else to put it. It's going to be weird. I've played with a lot of these guys for seven, eight years. To be playing against them will be weird.
Nothing out of the ordinary. It really caught me off guard.
Posted with Blogsy
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