Looking back on Roberto Luongo’s time as Vancouver Canucks captain

With the Vancouver Canucks finally naming a new captain on Wednesday, let’s look back at one of only seven goaltenders to ever don the C, Roberto Luongo.

Former Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis always thought outside the box. Throughout his tenure in the front office, he introduced many new ideas to the organization. The most newsworthy was Roberto Luongo being named the captain of the team.

It was almost unheard of to have a goaltender as the captain of a franchise, but the Canucks did it. When asked about why they chose Luongo, Gillis had this to say.

Leaders lead by example…Roberto is the leader of this team right now. We felt really strongly about that. To not do something like this means you have a leader that is unrecognized. -Mike Gillis

You had to go all the way back to the 1947-48  season to see a goaltender as a captain. Bill Durnan of the Montreal Canadiens was the last one before the NHL passed a rule preventing it. Gillis got around it by having Luongo not wear the C on his jersey and designating proxies to do ceremonial faceoffs and discussions with officials. Since Luongo, no other NHL team has had a goaltender as a captain. I don’t think it will ever happen again, as it was a rocky two years for the goaltender.

A rocky captaincy

Don’t get me wrong, I thought Luongo was a great leader for the Canucks. I just don’t think they needed to make him captain in order to recognize that.

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His time as captain was not smooth, as there were multiple times where his play suffered because of the extra responsibility heaped onto him.

He was constantly criticized not only for his own performance but the performance of the team as well. If he commented about the defence in front of him, everyone thought he was throwing someone under the bus.

Goaltenders are often scrutinized in the media since they are the last line of defence. But as a captain, that’s not all he had to deal with. He had to answer for everyone, not just himself.

Focus and concentration are key with the position and dealing with the media before and after the game as the captain and as the goaltender became understandably too much for him.

He said as much in an interview after stepping down as captain after two seasons.

I want to put my whole focus on goaltending,” Luongo said at a news conference. “I wouldn’t say it was a distraction. I think I could put something less on my plate. The less distractions as a goaltender (the better)…Sometimes when you are away from the rink, getting ready to play games, there was other stuff getting involved. -Roberto Luongo

Gillis even admitted he and then-head coach Alain Vigneault may have made a mistake naming him in the first place.

It may be incompatible with goaltending and the expectations that are placed on a captain in terms of availability and being the spokesman of the team…It may have been a little too much based on how he likes to prepare and what he likes to do to get ready for the game. -Mike Gillis

The Canucks as a team did not suffer on the ice during his time at the helm, winning two division titles while posting a record of 94-55-15. But you could see that the captaincy was weighing on him, especially in the second year. His numbers took a dive in 2009-10, where he posted a 2.57 goals against average (goals against average) and a .913 save percentage (save percentage).

I don’t think it was a coincidence that we saw a much more focused Luongo in the 2010-11 season. He put up a sparkling 2.11 GAA along with a .928 save percentage while leading the Canucks to a Stanley Cup Final appearance. Without the weight of the captaincy, he could just go about his business of stopping the puck. That’s all the Canucks should have asked him to do in the first place.

Despite all the drama and media attention Luongo experienced as a Canuck, to this day he remains a good sport. Ever the comic, he stayed positive even after the Canucks left him out of the picture of former captains of the franchise. Instead of getting angry, he made it into a joke and added himself into the picture. That’s just who Luongo is, a great personality of the game.

It will be a special day when the Canucks finally name a successor to Henrik Sedin, but we should not forget that Luongo was a captain of this franchise as well. He may have left on less than ideal circumstances, but dismissing it would be wrong. He was a consummate professional both with and without the C on his jersey (or mask in his case).

By eliminating that part of history, the Canucks are removing a part of themselves. In the end, he handled a tough situation really well. It was not his fault that he was named captain. So, let’s take this time to recognize him as a captain as well as one of the top goaltenders in Canucks history.