Will a Canucks goalie wear Luongo's number again? It's no longer popular
While the debate over whether Roberto Luongo deserves to have his number retired with the Vancouver Canucks continues to rage on, it may not matter that much.
The No. 1 that Luongo donned during his time on the West Coast, once ever popular with starting goaltenders, is starting to fall out of fashion around the NHL. The numbers show that there are far fewer goalies wearing the No. 1 around the NHL than there were even just a decade ago.
There are just four players still wearing the No. 1Â across the entire NHL. Those would be Lukas Dostal (Anaheim Ducks), Keith Kinkaid (New Jersey Devils), Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Buffalo Sabres), and Jeremy Swayman (Boston Bruins).
Turn the clock back to when Luongo first joined the Canucks in 2006-07 and there were 10 goalies that sported the No. 1. Keep going back to when the now-Hall of Famer joined the league in 1999-00 and that number jumps to 12.
The No. 1 is what has traditionally been assigned to goaltenders, but more and more players are breaking free of that stereotype.
“It might be nobody wants to be No. 1 because it’s a pretty boring number,” Antti Raanta said in a 2020 article written by Kevin Woodley on NHL.com. “It brings a little more colour to the game when guys are wearing 72 or something like that. It’s a bit more fun.”
Last year’s Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark wears No. 35. Igor Shesterkin, the winner of the trophy the year before, wears No. 31.
Beyond the fact that it’s no longer cool, another reason that the No. 1 may not be used in Vancouver again is due to the team’s history. Goalies that join the franchise are not ignorant of Luongo’s, and Kirk McLean’s to a lesser degree, association with the No. 1.
Current Canucks backup goalie Casey DeSmith wore the No. 1 with his former team the Pittsburgh Penguins, yet changed to No. 29 when he arrived in Vancouver.
“I can’t wear 1 here, for obvious reasons,” said DeSmith in September shortly after joining the Canucks in a nod to the franchise greats that came before him.
As goalies continue to pick innovative numbers, more and more move away from the traditional number assigned to the position. That means that even without Luongo’s banner in the rafters, there may not be another Canucks goalie that wears the No. 1.