Roberto Luongo relinquished the NHL years earlier, but his splendor days are plainly a lot from over.
The Hockey Hall of Famer and fourth-winningest goaltender in NHL background strapped on the pads and struck the ice as soon as extra on Monday night, but it had not been for a graduates or charity competitors, or for an fulfilling little twirl across the rink along with his children.
No, this was one thing of a lot increased relevance than charity or family: a beer-league championship sport.
With their crew lacking out on a goalkeeper for an important postseason match versus the five-time defending group champs, the decided males’s- group group, based mostly in Florida, apparently produced a “goalie needed” commercial on Facebook.
And, evaluating by a video clip making the rounds on social networks, the group was relatively stunned to see that addressed the phone name.
The two-time Olympic gold champion, spruced up in a Florida Panthers technique jacket and shaking a simply gray retired life beard, walked proper into the storage locker space to a sea of surprised and ecstatic faces previous to begging along with his brand-new colleagues to play some help earlier than him– one thing generally doing not have within the wild globe of males’s leisure hockey.
Whether it was the restricted protecting initiative earlier than him, a big effectivity from Luongo in between the pipelines or a mixture of each, the underdog crew found the key sauce and took out a 4-2 win versus the five-time defending champs.
The Internet, clearly, was undoubtedly caring it.
This is the very first time that each particular person in my timeline has truly remained in 100% lockstep on one concern.
We all love Roberto Luongo.
— James Brun (@LeBrunJames 81)September 11, 2024
“This is amazing,” one X user wrote “Imagine posting on Facebook that you need a tendy for an 11PM game, and Roberto f*****g Luongo walks into the room to win your team the beer league title. This guy is a rockstar.”
“Imagine being some random beer leaguer thinking ‘oh yeah we’re gonna walk these mfs again, easy’ and you come out on the ice only to see Roberto freaking Luongo in the other net,” wrote another. “I would just forfeit on the spot.”
As the social networks people over mentioned, it could definitely be pretty a shock to the system turning up on the neighborhood area for a Monday night beer-league conflict because the five-time defending champs, assuming you’ll journey to at least one extra triumph, beforehand placing the ice and seeing a Hockey Hall of Famer inhabiting your challenger’s fold.
Beer group hockey could be a harsh globe in some circumstances.
However, as some people on X defined, there’s a few players from the shedding crew that may definitely have some unbelievable tales to tell for a number of years to search out after racking up on the 19-year NHL skilled.
Hockey followers couldn’t support but have some fulfilling with the idea of racking up on Luongo on social networks.
“If I scored on Roberto Luongo I’d get the date tatted on my a**,” read one post on X, whereas yet one more commenter wrote, “there’s a dude in a random beer league somewhere who will tell the story of how he scored on Luongo and no one will ever believe him.”
“Imagine the ego boost you’d get if you’re one of the two guys who potted a goal against f*****g Roberto Luongo,” posted another.
It’s not the very first time Luongo– that’s continuously been one of the top NHL personalities on social networks– has truly gone viral this summertime, because the man referred to as “Bobby Lou” gained the Stanley Cup as a participant of the Florida Panthers’ entrance office in June.
In timeless Luongo model, the Montreal, Quebec, indigenous went “full Italian” and squashed a dish of pasta (lined with newly grated parmesan, definitely) out of probably the most fabled prize in sporting actions.
Luongo, among the many best possible goalkeepers to ever earlier than band on the pads, performed 19 durations within the NHL with 3 corporations, consisting of 8 initiatives with the Vancouver Canucks and 11 with thePanthers He worn in 1,044 video video games (2nd all-time), importing 489 success (4th all-time), a 2.52 goals-against normal,.919 save p.c, and 77 nothings. Luongo was sworn in proper into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022.
Beer group “ringers” don’t get hold of much better than that.