Vancouver Canuck's Roberto Luongo and His Hockey Career

As far as NHL goalies go, Roberto Luongo is definitely one of the best. Roberto Luongo was born in Montreal, Quebec in Canada on April 4, 1979 making him thirty years old. This professional goalie is 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 206 pounds. Roberto Luongo is currently the Captain of the Vancounver Canucks and is the first goalie to be named Captain since 1947. Roberto Luongo's impressive hockey career begins in the 1995-1996 season in the QMJHL (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League). The QMJHL is one of the three leagues that makes up the CHL (Canadian Hockey League) which is the best league of junior hockey in Canada.

Roberto Luongo played for the Val-d'Or Foreurs starting the 1995-1996 season until middle of the 1998-1999 season. Roberto Luongo was actually drafted in 1997 by the New York Islanders, 4th overall and was the Islander's first round pick. Despite being drafted, he stayed in the QMJHL a couple more seasons. For the rest of the 1998-1999 season, Roberto Luongo moved to another QMJHL team, the Acadie-Bathurst Titans. After that season, he was moved to the AHL (American Hockey League) to play with the Lowell Lock Monsters. He played with the Lowell Lock Monsters for about half the season, but was called up by the New York Islanders to play the other half.

In the 2000-2001 season, Roberto Luongo was moved to the Louisville Panthers in the AHL, which is the Florida Panther's affiliate AHL team. Luongo spent very little time in the AHL, only three games, before being called up by the Florida Panthers. After that season, he stayed in the NHL as a permanent player and played with the Florida Panthers until the 2005-2006 season, with the exception of the 2004-2005 NHL Lockout, when he did not play. In the 2006-2007 season, Roberto played with the Vancouver Canucks, which is still his team.

Roberto Luongo has had an extremely impressive hockey career in the NHL and internationally. He has played for Team Canada in the World Championship in 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2005. He also played for Team Canada in the World Cup in 2004 and the 2006 Winter Olympics. In 2002, Roberto Luongo was selected to play in the YoungStars game. He was named to the Second All-Star Team in both 2003 and 2007. Luongo was also selected to play in the NHL All-Star game in 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2009, although he chose not to play in 2008 to stay home with his wife who was pregnant at the time. In 2007, he was awarded the Most Exciting Player Award by the Vancouver Canucks. Also in 2007 he was awarded the Cyclone Taylor Award, the Mark Messier Leadership Award, and the Molson Cup, which is awarded to one distinguished NHL player each year. He also won the Cyclone Taylor Award, which is awarded to the MVP of the Canucks and the Molson Cup in 2008.

ref-www.nhl.com