Roberto Luongo records career win No. 400
Roberto Luongo became just the 11th goalie in NHL history to record 400 career wins.
The Florida Panthers 2014-15 season isn't likely to end with a playoff berth, but they're still an exciting team to watch right now with a great mix of young talent and a couple of fun veterans that have helped the organization take a pretty significant step forward this season.
One of those veterans is goaltender Roberto Luongo, who is having a really strong season in net and has been a great addition to the team after coming over in last year's trade with the Vancouver Canucks.
With his 31-save performance on Thursday night in the Panthers' 6-1 blowout win over the Carolina Hurricanes, Luongo became just the 11th goal in NHL history record 400 career wins in the NHL. He joins a list that includes only Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, Ed Belfour, Curtis Joseph, Terry Sawchuk, Jacques Plante, Tony Esposito, Glenn Hall, Grant Fuhr and Chris Osgood.
The only player ahead of him that is not currently in the Hall of Fame is Osgood.
Luongo is very close to moving up the all-time wins leaderboard, as well. He is now just one win behind Osgood for 10th on the all-time list, only three behind Fuhr, seven behind Hall and 23 behind Esposito. By next season he could -- and very likely will be -- as high as seventh on the all-time list.
The obvious note here is that unlike just about every other goalie on the list ahead of him Luongo has had the opportunity to play a significant portion of his career in the shootout era which has no doubt given him -- and every other goalie of this era -- a significant advantage over goalies from previous eras. All of those shootout wins would have simply been ties before the 2005-06 season.
But that still shouldn't take away from what has been an otherwise wonderful career for Luongo, who is currently in his second stint with the Panthers. He's played in a Stanley Cup Final, won Olympic Gold, and finished in the top-eight in save percentage eight different times, including four years in the top-five.
He has simply been one of the best goalies of his generation.
