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As a goalie bound for the Hall of Fame — minus a voter-imposed waiting period for “not winning it all,” no doubt — Roberto Luongo was iconic in two places. He should have been iconic in only one; with a little patience, those other two wouldn’t even be factors.
Flashback to when he was 20 years old. Here’s the AP story...:
Judging by his NHL debut, the New York Islanders made the right move in making Roberto Luongo the highest drafted goalie in NHL history.
Luongo, the Islanders’ first pick and fourth overall in 1997, stopped 43 shots to lead the Islanders past the red-hot Boston Bruins 2-1 on Sunday night.
”This is hopefully a huge step for me,” said Luongo. “I’ve waited my whole life for this.”
Yeah, about that.
Anyway, the franchise that knew him longest, on two separate tenures, will honor Luongo by retiring his number. [Litter Box Cats | NHL]
Put this game on NBCSN and have Mike Milbury on location. https://t.co/hrL8sowNg0
— Culture of Losing (Out On Free Agents) (@cultureoflosing) August 12, 2019
Sharing This Only Because You Will Hear About It
It’s “source tells me Team X considering offer sheet to Mitch Marner” time again! You likely saw these the other day, but if not now you know where the latest “hey, somebody was sayin’ somethin’ about Marner?” silliness is coming from — an obscure podcaster and a rather well-known Leafs-centric writer:
.@NYIslanders Per league source out of New York says the #Isles are getting ready to offer sheet @MapleLeafs RW Mitchell Marner. At 7 years/$91M....AAV of $13M. Marner camp wants to do a 5 year deal at $13M according to the league source. We shall see where this goes........#NHL
— Joshua Marshall (@JMarshyBosco93) August 10, 2019
The @Canucks are considering an offer-sheet for Mitch Marner and have talked with the #Leafs about a trade involving Marner.
— Howard Berger (@Berger_BYTES) August 11, 2019
Note that neither of these indicates Marner would actually sign one...just that teams would sure like to try! (shock!)
The only appropriate response, really:
Hearing from a league source that the still to be named Seattle expansion franchise is also considering an offer sheet for Mitch Marner. Have roughly $80M in cap space to facilitate the demands from Marner’s camp. https://t.co/CJ1fdEXy4n
— dom luszczyszyn (@domluszczyszyn) August 11, 2019
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- In announcing that news, Waddell said Justin Williams is still undecided on returning for next season. That feels like a “eh, heart/body isn’t quite in it.” [NHL]
- Rasmus Ristolainen’s name continues to swirl in trade rumors. But was he miscast or misused in Buffalo all this time? [TSN]
- Tough break for the Flames as up-and-coming defenseman Juuso Valiamaki has suffered an ACL tear. [NHL]
- From over a week ago, but still: Travis Green with a reality check: “Loui, I respect his career. I know he wants to probably play better than he has and have more success for himself. But I still have a job to do. And my job is to put the best team on the ice and play guys I see fit — and not just based on salaries.” [Sportsnet]
- The wrongful death suit brought by the widow of former NHL enforcer Todd Ewen could last three weeks. [TSN]
- It must be “Will The Leafs Pick a Captain?” season. [TSN | NHL]
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