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Greg Wyshynski, ESPNSep 13, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
- Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
The Beer League Leafs, a 40-and-over adult hockey team in South Florida, sat nervously in their dressing room. With their starting goalie unavailable, they didn’t have a clue who would be in the net for their win-or-go-home semifinal playoff game that night.
Suddenly, their replacement goaltender waddled into the room. But this wasn’t just some random beer leaguer. This was a goaltender who starred in the NHL for 19 seasons. This was a Hockey Hall of Famer, second all time in regular-season games played for a goaltender (1,044).
This was Roberto Luongo, now a special advisor with the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. And he was there to literally save their season.
“I got a shiver down my spine. I couldn’t believe it, because this is what I prayed for,” Leafs captain Brad Bargman said. “I was like, ‘This guy is going to be amazing.'”
While their playoff game took place on August 15, news of Luongo moonlighting in a beer league only spread this week when a video of his locker room entrance went viral.
When reached for comment by ESPN, Luongo said, “It’s an urban legend story and I prefer to leave it that way.”
How did a 45-year-old Hockey Hall of Famer end up playing goal in a South Florida beer league playoff game?
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It was not by responding to a “goalie needed” ad on Facebook, which was widely reported by media sites that aggregated the video this week. Terrific anecdote, unfortunately untrue.
“In reality, it was a combination of them needing a goalie and Luongo being at the practice that day and saying, ‘Hey, I’ll play,'” said Zach Randolph, adult hockey coordinator for the Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs.
Having current and former NHL players walking around the facility is commonplace, since many of their children skate at the rink. Panthers players have been known to drop in randomly. On the day of the Florida Stanley Cup parade, three Panthers players stopped by to celebrate during a men’s league game. Forward Ryan Lomberg, now with the Calgary Flames, even dropped the puck for a faceoff.
“But it’s not every day that we have them playing in the beer leagues,” Randolph said.
Bargman had known Luongo for some time. He coached Luongo’s son Gianni, and Luongo now coaches Bargman’s son Bryce. He sometimes wondered if Luongo would suit up for the Beer League Leafs but felt that asking him would be “taking advantage of our friendship.”
Bargman is also a big fan of the Florida Panthers, where Luongo spent most of his playing career. Back in 2021, Brad and Bryce Bargman wore Panthers gear to a Tampa Bay Lightning game in violation of a policy that restricted fans from wearing gear supporting other NHL teams in the premium seating areas. After Brad Bargman published a viral video that showed two Amalie Arena employees confronting them, the Lightning said they’d no longer enforce the policy.
Colin Manuszewski is the goaltender for the Beer League Leafs, but he was unavailable for their semifinal playoff game against the terrifically named No Regretzkies. That put Bargman in a tough spot. The options for a replacement in the middle of August were limited. And he desperately needed a goalie. This wasn’t just a playoff hockey game for Bargman — this was personal.
As Bargman tells it, the No Regretzkies are comprised of players who used to be on the Beer League Leafs a few years ago. Things happened, disagreements persisted and “they left me and started their own team,” he said.
A team that would win multiple adult league championships after forming.
Among the players who left the Leafs was Petr Schastlivy, 45, who played 129 games in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim before spending the next 14 years in Russia’s KHL.
Bargman said one of the philosophical issues between himself and his former players was that he didn’t want to have NHL players such as Schastlivy on his team.
“Everybody was giving me a hard time about it, saying, ‘You guys cheat, you win every season,’ stuff like that” he said.
Ironically, he was about to depend on a Hockey Hall of Famer to win a playoff game against his former teammates.
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The Monday before the semifinal, Luongo and Schastlivy were both in the Panthers IceDen coaches’ room with Bargman.
“Hey Petr. Big game on Thursday. By the way, this is our goalie. Roberto’s our goalie,” Bargman joked to Schastlivy.
Amidst the laughter, Luongo said he’d actually consider filling in for the Leafs.
The next day, Bargman texted Luongo to see if he was serious, with no response. On the eve of the game, he texted again. To his surprise and relief, Luongo said he was in. Bargman would later find out that Luongo wanted to use the game to prepare for a return to the ice in Montreal during his day with the Stanley Cup.
Bargman told Randolph that he didn’t have any other goalie options lined up. Considering that the No Regretzkies had their own ex-NHL player in their lineup, Randolph felt comfortable signing off on Luongo playing for the Leafs.
“They were in a pinch and needed a goalie. And I’m not exactly gonna tell Louie ‘no,'” Randolph said. “I was sure half of the other team was going to be upset about it and the other half would be like, ‘Holy s— we have the opportunity to score against Roberto Luongo.”
Bargman decided not to tell anyone that Luongo was his goalie for the semifinal, even as his teammates pestered him on game day. Luongo was given his own locker room to suit up before the game.
Luongo had to walk over from one rink to another to be with his team. At 6-foot-3, wearing professional equipment, he didn’t go unnoticed. “Everyone was just looking at him, being like, “Oh, s—, is that Roberto Luongo?'” Randolph said. “The whole place started buzzing.”
A larger-than-usual crowd of fans amassed around the rink ahead of the men’s league semifinal. There were even familiar chants of “Luuuuuuuu!” during the first period when Luongo would make a save — which he did with frequency in a shot-filled first period.
“He told me he was tired and wasn’t going to make it through the whole game,” Bargman recalled with a laugh.
Luongo surrendered two goals in the game. The second one was a long-range goal by Schastlivy. He had faced Luongo once during their respective NHL careers, during a 2003 game between the Senators and Panthers. Luongo stopped both Schastlivy shots he faced that day, but Schastlivy got the better of him in beer league play.
The Leafs found themselves down 2-1 in the game.
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“My biggest fear was that Roberto would lose,” Bargman said. “If he loses, not only does he feel stupid, losing in a beer league game. But I’ll feel extra stupid because it’s against my old team.”
Despite playing shorthanded, as beer league teams tend to do in the summer, the Leafs rallied for a 4-2 victory, sending them to the championship game and their star goalie to another victory.
The team celebrated at the upstairs bar afterward without Luongo, who left for home. Bargman said the 10:15 p.m. start time made it a long night for the Hall of Famer.
That was it for Roberto Luongo’s beer league season. Manuszewski returned to the crease for the championship game, which the Leafs won to finish atop the league.
Bargman said that even if Luongo had wanted to play in the final, he would have gone back to Manuszewski.
“I’m not about that. That’s our goalie. You lose with your goalie. You win with your goalie,” he said.
Luongo’s beer league season was a success. He got some ice time before his day with the Cup. He did what many NHL fans in Toronto dreamed he’d one day do: help propel the Leafs to a championship. And he allowed Bargman the chance to get one over on his former teammates.
“The revenge is sweet. I beat them at their own game. I had an NHL player,” he said.
Randolph said that Luongo’s viral moment has helped give the rink and the adult leagues more exposure during a time when hockey’s hotter than ever in South Florida, thanks to the Panthers’ Stanley Cup.
Has the league considered commemorating this moment? Perhaps by renaming an award for best adult league goaltender after Roberto Luongo?
“I mean, he did give up two goals, so I don’t know,” Randolph said with a laugh.
