Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Pumping tires: Goalies Tim Thomas and Roberto Luongo united with Florida Panthers

Boston Bruins v Vancouver Canucks - Game Seven

during Game Seven of the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Arena on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Bruce Bennett

Get this: Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas as teammates.

Three years ago, in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins, the two met head-to-head in the goaltending match-up of that series. Thomas and the Bruins came out victorious, in a physically brutal seven-game series certainly not lacking for storylines.

One that will live on for years to come is the infamous tire-pumping back-and-forth the two goalies had in the latter part of the series.

A little refresher: Luongo had a critique of a goal Thomas allowed in Game 5, which the Canucks went on to win, putting them one victory away from winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. The next day, Luongo tried to explain his comments.

“I said also that he might make some saves that I don’t, so I was just saying on that particular play I would have played it different and that’s the difference between me and him,” Luongo said, as per an article at ESPN.com.

“I’ve been pumping his tires ever since the series started and I haven’t heard one nice thing he had to say about me, so that’s the way it is.”

Thomas responded back: “I guess I didn’t realize it was my job to pump his tires ... I guess I have to apologize for that.”

Yes, we’ve all had a laugh. Interesting, however, that the day before the 2014 NHL trade deadline, the two have been united as members of the Florida Panthers.

The Panthers acquired Luongo in a blockbuster trade on Tuesday (the former Canucks goalie thought he was “untradable,” remember?).

That led Thomas to this rather hilarious comment following Florida’s 4-1 loss to the Bruins. See the below tweet.

Follow @CamTucker_Metro