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Luongo and Bieksa have another laugh at Chara's "fake" Canucks story

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Jun 9 2023, 7:51 pm
Luongo and Bieksa have another laugh at Chara's "fake" Canucks story
Sportsnet

Roberto Luongo got some airtime on Hockey Night in Canada last night. The Vancouver Canucks legend is back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 12 years, this time as a member of the Florida Panthers’ front office.

Speaking with Ron MacLean and former teammate Kevin Bieksa prior to Game 3 in Florida, the pair of former Vancouver Canucks did a little reminiscing.

And yes, 2011 came up.

“I remember how fun that celly was. It was pure adrenaline,” Bieksa said as the broadcast ran a clip of the Canucks’ Game 7 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. “Because we all thought that everyone was getting fired or traded if we lost… it’s the celebrations that you remember.”

The Panthers entered Game 3 down 0-2 in the series, which is the opposite situation to what the Canucks faced during the 2011 Stanley Cup Final against Boston. When asked a question by Bieksa with that premise, Luongo poked fun at Zdeno Chara’s outrageous claim.

“You remember when we were practicing lifting the Cup?” Luongo deadpanned before everyone on the panel cracked up. “That fake story.”

“Maybe you were,” Bieksa quipped. “You and Schneids were in the bathroom or something.”

The “fake story” they’re referencing is of course Chara’s seemingly bogus anecdote about the 2011 Final, in which he said the Bruins saw Canucks players “practising how they would be lifting the Cup and handing off the Cup to each other” before Game 3.

Bieksa sounded off at the outrageous claim days later on Hockey Night in Canada back in December, calling it “one of the dumbest things we’ve ever heard.”

Back to the present day, Luongo was asked how this run with Florida compares to 2011. He described himself as a “nervous wreck” watching the games.

“It’s been fun,” the 44-year-old Hall of Famer said. “It’s funny, when I played, I always used to get nervous before the game. But then once the game started, you’re just in the game, and you’re not thinking about it. Now it’s the opposite, I’m fine before the game, but during the game, I’m a nervous wreck. That’s why you kind of see the emotion when there’s a big goal or an overtime winner like that. All the emotion comes out at once there.”

Needless to say, Luongo would rather be playing.

“It’s worse. You can’t control what’s going on. You’re just like a pack of nerves watching the game. Especially the overtimes ones where it’s stressful. So far, we haven’t lost one in overtime, touch wood.”

Good thing Luongo touched wood when he said that because Game 3 went to overtime, and the Panthers did indeed win again. Florida has now won all seven overtime games they’ve played in this postseason, which is tied for the second-most wins any team has ever accumulated in a single playoff year.

 

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