There’s nothing worse than being short your goalie when heading into a beer-league hockey game.
It’s even worse if you’re in the playoffs and facing the five-time defending champions.
But for one team that found themselves in that scenario, putting out a “goalie needed” ad on Facebook before the game landed them a keeper who was a bit more qualified than a team usually expects to get on short notice.
Walking through their locker room door turned out to be none other than Hockey Hall of Famer Roberto Luongo, decked out in Florida Panthers gear and ready to go.
As his teammates for the night laughed, the Canadian Olympic gold medallist addressed the room.
“I need some defence tonight, OK?” Luongo said, surely knowing full well the usual state of play in beer league hockey.
While the amount of defence in front of him might have been questionable, Luongo and the boys secured a 4-2 victory of the reigning champs – who can at least take consolation in the fact that they’ll forever be able to boast about finding the twine twice against a bonafide hockey legend.
Bobby Lu had most recently been seen between the pipes for the 2023 NHL all-star skills competition, during which he served as a celebrity goaltender for the breakaway challenge.
The event was hosted by the Panthers, with whom Luongo is employed as a special advisor to general manager Bill Zito.
While Luongo never was able to capture a Cup as a player, he finally hoisted Lord Stanley’s mug earlier this year when Florida defeated the Edmonton Oilers in a thrilling seven-game series in the final.
During his career, Luongo played 1,044 games (second most all-time for goalies), recording 489 wins and 77 shutouts. He had a career 2.52 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.
Retiring in 2019, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022.