Roberto Luongo’s tenure in Vancouver was one that was celebrated for the most part but ended awkwardly when he was traded to Florida at the trade deadline.
Luongo spoke with Bob Marjanovich of Team 1040 Radio in Vancouver (audio link starts around 45:00) and discussed what his final days in Vancouver were like.
“We all know, obviously, what led up to it,” Luongo said. “The last year, year and a half before that. Going into the year I didn’t know what was going to happen, but after we had passed the midway point and my family was here, my daughter was in school -- we were getting used to being here again. We were actually starting looking at houses so at that point in time, we weren’t expecting to get traded. It’s kind of weird how things happen in life. But all of a sudden I come back from the Olympics and we all know what happened there and a couple days later that was it.”
Marjanovich asked him if not starting the Heritage Classic was his breaking point, something Luongo’s agent admitted earlier as much that it was. Then Canucks coach John Tortorella opted to start Lack over him, a move Torts said made Luongo “pissed.” The Ottawa Senators won the game 4-2.
“I think so,” Luongo admitted. “It was really the last straw, if you can call it that. I don’t have any resentment toward anybody about it but that’s what eventually led up to what happened.”
Despite Luongo’s cool demeanor about it now, it put an end to a lengthy soap opera in Vancouver and one that sparked plenty of change with the Canucks. It may not be anything new, but hearing Luongo talk about it now you can tell he’s happy to be free of what was a dramatic situation.