Roberto Luongo Hopped In Net For A Random Beer League Team To Help Them Take Down The 5x Champs
One of the hardest things in life to find is a consistent beer league hockey goalie. If you have one on your squad, cherish them for dear life. Make sure they always have a the coldest beer waiting for them in the locker room once the game is over. Because these guys show up week after week to put on all that gear and face all those shots while a bunch of slap dicks playing in front of him completely forget how to play defense and commit some of the most egregious turnovers possible in their own zone. And since it's beer league, naturally every shot he sees is aimed directly at his head all night.
So the fact that this team showed up to a playoff game without a goalie isn't anything out of the ordinary. I wouldn't want to show up either if I was that team's regular tendy. Playing against the 5x reigning champs on the first Monday night of the NFL season? No thanks, I'd rather just stay home and enjoy a few beers on the couch instead of being down 7-0 at the end of the 1st period.
Usually that would be the end of the story for these fellas. Playoff game, no goalie, I hope you enjoyed making a donation to the rink with your league fees, better luck next year. You put a Facebook post out there as a hail mary just hoping to find someone available who has played goalie before a day in their life, and then...
2x Olympic gold medalist, 1x William Jennings Trophy winner, and Hockey Hall of Famer Roberto Luongo shows up out of nowhere. 28409 career saves in the NHL and now he's tasked with stopping shots from some random dude named Carl whose claim to fame was that he got invited to tryout for a junior team one time when he was 19.
Imagine showing up for that game as the opposing team. You've won the league 5-years in a row. You think you're the hottest shit that rink has ever seen. Walk in there every week like you own the place as you breeze your way to a 6th straight championship. You leave work with a little extra pep in your step, think about how great that win is going to be during your 76 minute commute home, get to the rink and get absolutely tormented by a Hall of Famer between the pipes. Brutal night for the fellas, but that's what beer league hockey is all about. Whoever can show up to the rink with the best ringer usually always wins. Turns out this team in particular found the best possible ringer available.
Sidenote: Bobby Lu has to stay with the squad through the rest of the playoffs, right? He can't just leave the boys high and dry now. He needs to lead them to the promised land.