Roberto Luongo returned to practice Thursday, hopping on the ice to practice with his former team, the Florida Panthers.
Sergei Bobrovsky took advantage of a day off and in order to spare Anthony Stolarz, the club invited the popular Quebecer, who played his last game on the Bettman circuit in 2019.
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Panthers head coach Paul Maurice enjoyed seeing special advisor to general manager Bill Zito jump on the ice with the players.
“It's fun, isn't it? The players first sent him easy shots, then tried to score against him. You can see the talent is still there, especially in the way he reads the game. He's seen so much hockey as a goalie and he's probably spied on the actions of 1,000 goalies since taking over. He reads the game so quickly. He’s still doing his job,” Maurice told NHL.com.
“He looked pretty good,” he added. If you came in here and had no idea who was in front of the net, you would say it was an NHL goalie. His beard is a little grayer, but he looked good.”
Luongo had the opportunity to wear his special leggings as a tribute to his professional career. It features the colors of the Panthers, Vancouver Canucks and Team Canada.
Recall that on December 14, before the game against the Panthers, the British-Colombian team honored the 44-year-old Montrealer by adding his name to its Ring of Honor. The latter retired his number 1 in 2020.