Florida Panthers: Roberto Luongo should be a Hall of Famer

Luongo and Brodeur

If you ask most hockey fans, chances are they’ll tell you that Brodeur is one of the best goalies of all time. Now, Brodeur played for a long time, and I commend him for doing so.

However, if you think that he is one of the best of all time, then it’s completely nonsensical to not have Luongo even higher. In any measurement except for wins, Luongo is superior in every way.

Brodeur had some really great seasons, but his overall play remained inconsistent over his career. One season, he looked amazing, and the next, not so much. After recording a .917 save percentage in 1997-98 for example, Brodeur only managed to record a save percentage above .910 once, for the next four seasons.

Even when his save percentage was above .910, it was often under .915. He had some legitimately great seasons, but for me at least, he also had a lot of average seasons. For Luongo, this just isn’t the case.

Now, Luongo has technically never won a Vezina, but he really should have. In 2003-04, for example, Luongo recorded a .931 save percentage over 73 games. Somehow, a certain goalie with a .917 save percentage won that trophy. Who is this goalie you ask? Well, it’s Brodeur.

Maybe if we look at the peak of both their careers, we can determine who was better when they were both at their best. Luongo’s best season, as I said, came in 2003-04 with that .931 save percentage. Brodeur’s was in 1996-97, where he put up a .927.

Alright, let’s take a look at their overall save percentages instead. So far, with 1002 games played, Luongo has a combined save percentage of .919. Brodeur has a .912 through 1266 games. Do you see what I mean?

Additionally, if we actually look at Vezina votings, we can see how advantaged Brodeur appears to be. In 2002-03, Brodeur won with a .914 save percentage, somehow. He did this despite there being 8 nominated goalies with better save percentages.

Even in 2007-08, J.S. Giguere and Tim Thomas had better saves percentages than him, but Brodeur still won the Vezina. Luongo never received this sort of slack from the trophy voters.

In practically every metric, Luongo is better. I reiterate, the only reasons Brodeur is seen as the superior goalie by so many, is because of Stanley Cup totals and misleading award totals. These two should go down in history as great Canadian goalies, but Luongo should be regarded as the better one, and a Hall of Fame lock.