Roberto Luongo started his career with Islanders, Patrick Roy currently serving as Head Coach
Roberto Luongo and Patrick Roy were both named to the NHL’s Quarter-Century Team, the league announced on Sunday morning.
Luongo was drafted fourth overall by the Islanders in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft and played one season with the club in 1999-2000. Luongo appeared in 24 games, going 7-14-1 with a 3.25 GAA, a .904 SV% and one shutout. Luongo stopped 43-of-44 shots in a 2-1 win over Boston in his NHL debut on Nov. 28, 1999 and recorded his first shutout on Dec. 27, 1999, also against the Bruins.
His time with the Islanders was short, but his career was long, spanning 19 seasons and 1,044 games – the fourth-most games played in NHL history for a goalie. Luongo went 489-392-124 in his career – his 489 wins are also fourth-all time amongst goalies – with a 2.52 GAA, a .919 SV% and 77 shutouts, which are ninth-all time.
Luongo spent 11 seasons with the Florida Panthers (2000-2006, 2014-19) and eight seasons with the Vancouver Canucks (2006-14), backstopping the Canucks to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. Luongo won the William Jennings Trophy in 2011 with Cory Schneider, awarded to the team with the fewest goals against and while he never won a Vezina Trophy, finished as a runner-up in 2007, and a finalist in 2004 and 2011.
Roy’s resume is second-to-lone in the goaltending department. The French-Canadian netminder became the first NHL goalie to win 500 games and play in 1,000, finishing his career with a 551-315-131 record over 1,029 regular season games. While those records have both been broken, his 151 playoff wins are still an NHL record, with 38 wins separating him from the next closest netminder.
Introducing the goalies voted to the #NHLQCTeam! 🥅
NHL Quarter-Century Team presented by @SAP pic.twitter.com/QDNaYPV9BX
Roy won four Stanley Cups, winning two with the Montreal Canadiens (1986, 93) and two with the Colorado Avalanche (1996, 2001). He won three Conn Smythe Trophies for playoff MVP in 1986, 93 and 01, three Vezina Trophies in 1989, 90 and 92 and five Jennings Trophies in 1987, 88, 89, 92 and 2002.
Roy started his career in 1985 with the Montreal Canadiens, playing parts of 12 seasons with the club until a midseason trade to Colorado in 1995 where he played parts of eight seasons.
While a majority of Roy’s accolades occurred before 2000, consider that from Jan. 1, 2000 until his retirement in May 2003, Roy went 126-59-34 with a 2.09 GAA, a .920 SV% and 20 shutouts in the regular season, along with a 41-27 record, a .2.02 GAA, a .922 SV% and 11 shutouts in playoff action, with a Stanley Cup.
Roy was named Head Coach of the Islanders on Jan. 20, 2024. He has a 55-47-17 record through 119 games.
