It’s fitting that Roberto Luongo’s induction into the Vancouver Canucks Ring of Honour wasn’t filled strictly with cheers. The mention of controversial former coach John Tortorella in the goalie’s acceptance speech drew a strong reaction from the crowd.
When Luongo thanked his former coach, boos rained down from the Rogers Arena stands. However, the retired player quickly put an end to the negative reaction.
“No, no. He’s a good coach,” said the Montreal-born goalie with a grin. “He’s a good coach and he believes in what’s best for the team and I respect that.”
Tortorella and Luongo have a rocky history after the coach benched the star goalie for the 2014 Heritage Classic in Vancouver. Instead, Eddie Lack got the start for the special game at BC Place that attracted a ton of national media attention.
Luongo never played another game for the Canucks.
Mike Gillis, who was the team’s general manager at the time, now looks back on the situation with regret.
“That should have never happened the way that happened,” said Gillis in a recent interview on Sekeres and Price. “We were embroiled in these events that I wasn’t unaccustomed to. I was accustomed to working really closely with the coaching staff when we made decisions together that were big decisions for the team moving forward. That was one that was… extraordinarily difficult. We knew what would happen with Roberto. He’s an extremely proud guy… and we were going to treat him that way.”
Just a few days after the incident, the Canucks traded Luongo to the Florida Panthers.
“It was wrong,” summed up Gillis about the benching.
Despite all of the intense emotional feelings involved in the situation, Luongo has clearly put it all behind him. He defended the coach in front of the Vancouver crowd during his heartfelt acceptance speech and now gets to have his tenure with the Canucks remembered forever with his plaque inside the arena.
