Luongo returns to practice; return probable next week
CORAL SPRINGS During Thursday morning’s practice, Panthers coach Bob Boughner’s attention drifted towards the south end of the rink inside the IceDen; he couldn’t help himself. Roberto Luongo hadn’t practiced fully in more than two months, so Boughner and the Florida coaching staff monitored the 38-year-old a little differently.
“I think a lot of us were sort of staring down at Louie a few times during the drills,” Boughner said.
Luongo practiced for the first time since he suffered a groin injury on Dec. 4 against the Islanders, even though he’s been on the ice since mid-December. Tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Kings will be his 26th consecutive missed game, but Thursday marked an important checkpoint on his road to recovery.
Boughner said Luongo could practice through Tuesday, setting up a potential return to action against his former team: the Vancouver Canucks.
“Hopefully, sometime on the road trip, but I don’t really put a timeline on it,” Luongo said.
Luongo’s recovery has been delayed by a handful of setbacks. The team hoped he’d be ready by early February. The team also hoped he’d practice last week. But both marks came and went without Luongo on the ice with the rest of the team.
He often skated before practice with goaltending coach Robb Tallas, but didn’t progress to a full practice. Boughner said Luongo would have returned Wednesday, had he not given the team a day off.
“Even though he had a couple setbacks, he looks like he is definitely moving the right direction for next week,” Boughner said.
Luongo said the last couple months have been up and down and challenged his ability “to stay positive and not get frustrated with it at times.”
“It’s just difficult to be out no matter what the circumstances are,” Luongo said. “It’s the only the second time really I’ve had an injury right in the middle of the season like that where I’ve had to miss time and had to get back during the season. It was tough, it was tough to see your teammates play every night and you can’t contribute.”
Before the injury, Luongo was playing some of the best hockey of his career. In the last five games before his injury, he had a
.935 save percentage and 2.26 goals against average. His overall .928 save percentage would be his highest since 2010-11 in Vancouver, when he finished third in the Vezina Trophy voting.
“I think the most frustrating part is I felt I was playing really well before I got hurt,” Luongo said. “I’d love to be able to say I’m going to get back in there and pick up where I left off, but that’s going to take some time and hopefully, it’ll be quicker rather than later because we’re obviously in an important stretch of the season.”
For the 38-year-old, the groin injury is his third notable injury in the last year. He missed the final six weeks of last season with a hip injury. A hand injury forced him out for two weeks earlier this season.
Luongo still has four seasons remaining on his contract and his ability to stay healthy will dictate how valuable those seasons become. He said he still feels healthy enough on game days to play at a high level.
“If I asked myself how I feel the days that we don’t play, then I wouldn’t be so confident,” Luongo said. “As long as I feel good for the games, that’s all that matters. I felt like I was playing as good as I’ve ever played and that I could play at a high level. That’s important to me. I don’t want to be playing in this league where I feel like I’m not contributing.”
Luongo said he went through a similar injury 10 years ago, but the lost time was too much to bridge the experiences.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t 28 years old this time around,” Luongo said. “I was a little bit older. The path to being healthy was a little bit different.”
Sticking with Sateri
Boughner confirmed that Harri Sateri would start again for the Panthers tonight against Los Angeles, even though James Reimer has been cleared to play. Sateri has a .950 save percentage during Florida’s four-game winning streak, turning Reimer into the backup on Friday night.
“It’s our playoff time and if someone’s hot, we’re going to stick with them,” Boughner said.
Reimer (pulled groin) returned to practice on Monday morning and has been removed from injured reserve. When Luongo got hurt, Reimer started the next 17 games.