Roberto Luongo - International Career

International Career

Luongo made his international debut at the 1995 World U-17 Hockey Challenge in Moncton, New Brunswick, with Team Québec, winning bronze. Three years later, he was named to the Canadian national junior team for the 1998 World Junior Championships in Finland. He played backup to Victoriaville Tigres goaltender Mathieu Garon, going winless in three appearances with a 3.70 GAA, as Canada finished in eighth place. Luongo became the starting goaltender the following year at the 1999 World Junior Championships in Winnipeg, Manitoba, appearing in seven of Canada's eight games. He recorded a shutout in the first game of the tournament against the Czech Republic, making 36 saves in a 0–0 tie. He went on to help Team Canada to the gold medal game against Russia, but lost in overtime, surrendering a goal to Artem Chubarov. With a 1.92 GAA and two shutouts, Luongo was given Best Goaltender and All-Star Team honours.

Luongo first appeared with the Canadian men's team at the 2001 World Championships in Germany. He played backup to Fred Brathwaite of the Calgary Flames before injuring his finger during the first game of the qualification round against Switzerland on May 4, 2001. Luongo returned home to Florida, as Vancouver Canucks goaltender Dan Cloutier replaced him, ending his tournament debut with a 1.44 GAA in two games. Canada finished in fifth place.

During his next appearance at the 2003 World Championships in Finland, Luongo began the tournament as backup to the Phoenix Coyotes' Sean Burke. He earned wins against Latvia in the preliminaries and Switzerland in the qualifying round. During the semifinals against the Czech Republic, Luongo replaced Burke after he left the game with a lower-body injury eight minutes into the second period. Luongo allowed four goals in relief, but earned the win as Canada defeated the Czechs 8–4. With Burke still out for the gold medal game, Luongo made 49 saves against Sweden in a 3–2 overtime win. Despite Luongo's medal round efforts, Burke was named the Best Goaltender for the tournament, as he played in the majority of Team Canada's games. The gold-medal winning 2003 team was later named the Canadian Press national sports team of the year on January 2, 2004.

Luongo made his third appearance at the World Championships in 2004 in the Czech Republic. He played in seven games as the starting goaltender, recording a 2.32 GAA and one shutout, as Canada captured its second straight gold medal at the tournament, beating Sweden 5–3 in the final. Several months later, Luongo competed for Team Canada in the 2004 World Cup as backup to Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils. It marked Luongo's first international tournament in which all NHL players were eligible, as the annual World Championships conflict with the Stanley Cup playoffs. He had another opportunity to step in for the starting goalie when Brodeur pulled himself out prior to the semi-final game against the Czech Republic due to a sprained wrist. Filling in for Brodeur, Luongo made 37 of 40 stops in a 4–3 overtime victory to put Team Canada into the finals against Finland. Brodeur returned for the championship game to backstop Team Canada to a 3–2 win.

Luongo appeared in his fourth World Championships in 2005. Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, all NHL players were available for the tournament in Austria, and Luongo played backup to Brodeur. He appeared in two games, including a shutout win against Slovenia in the round-robin. Luongo earned a silver medal as Team Canada was shut out by the Czech Republic 3–0 in the final.

Luongo was named to his first Winter Olympics in 2006. The tournament was held in Turin, Italy, his country of cultural origin. He again played behind Brodeur and appeared in two games. He made his Olympic debut in the second game of the round-robin with a 5–1 win against Germany. His second appearance of the tournament was a loss to Finland, also in the round-robin. Team Canada had entered the tournament as the defending gold medal champions from the 2002 Winter Olympics, but were eliminated facing Russia in the quarter-finals and finished in seventh place.

Leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympics, to be held in Luongo's NHL hometown of Vancouver, Luongo and Brodeur were considered locks to be named to the national team heading into the summer orientation camp in August 2009 and speculation began as to who would be appointed the starting position. On December 31, 2009, Luongo was selected to Team Canada, along with Brodeur and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins as the three goaltenders. Luongo was given the start for the first game against Norway. He recorded his first Olympic shutout, making 15 saves in an 8–0 win to open the tournament. After Brodeur surrendered four goals in a 5–3 loss to the United States in their final preliminary game, Luongo replaced him as the starting goalie. He helped Canada to four consecutive single-elimination game wins against Germany, Russia, Slovakia and the United States to capture the gold medal. During the semifinal against Slovakia, Luongo made a game-saving stop against Canucks teammate Pavol Demitra with nine seconds to go in regulation. With Slovakia's goaltender pulled and down by a goal, the puck bounced to Demitra by the side of the net. Out of position, Luongo managed to get his glove on the puck, deflecting it away from the net and preserving the win. In the subsequent gold medal game, Luongo made 34 saves in Canada's overtime win against the United States.

The following month, Luongo carried the torch into Robson Square in Downtown Vancouver for the 2010 Paralympics on March 11, 2010.