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VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Roberto Luongo thought he had
worked out a long-term contract with the Florida Panthers early
Friday afternoon. A few hours later, the 27-year-old goaltender got a call
informing him that he had been dealt to Vancouver in a five-player
trade that sent forward Todd Bertuzzi back to Florida. "I'm really sad because I didn't think this was going to
happen, Luongo said Saturday. "We made great strides yesterday. I
thought we were going to get something long term. I was surprised
this whole deal went down." Defenseman Bryan Allen and goaltender Alex Auld are also headed
to Florida in the deal, which also sent defenseman Lukas Krajicek
and a sixth-round pick in Saturday's draft back to the Canucks. Luongo believed he had reached a four-year deal with Florida
that hinged on three conditions: The team make a public statement
that it would not trade him; goaltending coach Francois Allaire,
whose contract runs out in Anaheim this summer, would be hired; and
veteran Jamie McLennan would return as Luongo's backup. "They did not want to meet my three expectations, which I
thought were not that big a deal," Luongo said. "I'm really
looking forward to the opportunity of making a run at the Stanley
Cup, something I never had a chance to do in my prior seasons in
Florida," Luongo added that he wanted to stay in his wife's home town in
Florida, where they just moved into a new home, but was looking
forward to playing in Vancouver. He said it was too soon, however, to think about signing long
term with the Canucks. After earning $3.2 million last season as part of an arbitration
award, he rejected several long term offers from the Panthers -- the
last for $24 million over four years -- and could become an
unrestricted free agent next summer.
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