Luongo did play beer league but story behind it is “urban legend”
The story of Roberto Luongo saving a beer league hockey team’s day is unravelling a bit.
The goalie supposedly responded to a Facebook post calling for a goalie and helped a random team defeat the five-time defending champions in their beer league.
Roberto Luongo responded to a “goalie needed” ad on Facebook and helped a beer league team defeat the 5-time defending champions in their playoff game 4-2 😂🔥
(via IG/bryceshockeylife) pic.twitter.com/OkNdjvPUXY
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) September 10, 2024
It turns out the original story is slightly misleading, as ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski set the record straight today with an article of his own.
There was no Facebook post that Luongo saw that drew him to volunteer for the team. Instead, Luongo was at the South Florida ice facility, which is where many Panthers players and family members skate, explained Wyshynski.
Luongo and Brad Bargman, the captain of the team the All-Star goalie joined, also have a personal friendship. They coached each other’s kids, and that’s what led to Luongo joining the team.
The game was also not the championship, but the semi-finals, and the other team had a former NHLer of their own in Petr Schastlivy, who scored one of the two goals that got past the Hall of Fame netminder.
So, while it’s still a good story, the encounter wasn’t quite as random as the original viral video led people to believe.
It’s been a good summer for the former Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, and Panthers goalie, who won his first Stanley Cup as a front-office member. The Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers in seven games to bring home the trophy.
Luongo enjoyed his day with the Stanley Cup very much and posted photos on social media of him eating pasta out of the trophy’s bowl.