Former Canuck Roberto Luongo straps on the pads after a Florida ...

It’s one of the undeniable realities of beer league hockey: there are only two players on the ice who really matter, and they don’t play defense, wing, or center. If you don’t have goalies, you don’t have a real game, because no one wants to pick corners on a shooter tutor, hit the post, or strap two ’60s-vintage brown pads on a decommissioned Sears mannequin. (Although, admittedly, the last option might be every bit as cool as it sounds). 

As a result, the most stressful job of any beer league team organizer is finding someone willing to step in between the pipes. The last resort when a netminder cancels is usually a website like GoalieUp or MyPuck, where goalies offer their services on a pay-to-play basis. You can also put out a desperate call on X, Facebook, Instagram, or Plenty of Fish, knowing that in all the above scenarios, it’s often an unemployed carny, half-cut drunk, or out-on-a-day-pass psychopath who answers the call—if, that is, they actually do show up. 

News is breaking today that a group of Florida beer league hockey players recently had a somewhat different experience. 

Faced with a championship game against a team that had won the league five years in a row, the skaters—playing out of Ice Den in Coral Springs—found themselves goalie-less before game time, leading them to post a plea for a netminder on Facebook. 

The puckstopper who answered was more qualified than most: Roberto Luongo. Vancouver hockey fans know him as the local legend who got the Canucks within a win of the Stanley Cup in 2011, and as the backstop to Canada’s gold medal win at the 2010 Olympics. 

Since retiring, Luongo has been part of the Florida Panthers management team, with that team celebrating its first Stanley Cup win this past spring.

Watch the video of Luongo entering the team room below. And, yes, he led the team to victory after asking that the D show a little extra hustle in front of him for the game, with the final score being 4-2.

As for Vancouver beer league players, you know what to do the next time puck drop is at 6pm, and no one is willing to strap on the pads. Given his current geographical location, Luongo’s likely a Facebook longshot.

But it’s possible he’s just started a trend, and the last time we checked, Kirk “The Save” McLean was still hanging around town.