Roberto Luongo wanted to play and was traded two days later, but he was always a pro with Eddie Lack, who says “no one was a bigger supporter of me than he was”
“I get asked about it all the time. And people will come up to me and say, ‘Dude, you should have called in sick that day,’ ” Lack says of getting the start in goal from coach John Tortorella for that March 2, 2014, game against the Ottawa Senators.
Star netminder Roberto Luongo was in the midst of a tumultuous time with the Canucks. He’s admitted that he wanted to play in that showcase outdoor game, which attracted an announced crowd of 54,194 to a stadium that’s home to both the B.C. Lions and the Vancouver Whitecaps.
It’s easy to suggest that things could have played out differently with Luongo in Vancouver if he got the net for that game. He was frustrated then instead and was traded two days after the Classic, dealt to the Florida Panthers in the swap that brought netminder Jacob Markstrom to Vancouver and ended an eight-year run as a Canuck for Luongo.
Lack, who’s now a 37-year-old father of two selling real estate in Scottsdale, Ariz., maintains that Luongo deserved to play that game if he wanted to. Lack wasn’t in a position to turn the start down, of course. And he says Luongo treated him first-rate, despite all that was going on with Luongo at the time.
“No one was a bigger supporter of me than he was,” Lack, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday, explains. “It says something about his character. That was a game that he should have played. A lot of other guys would have sulked and not been there. He was there for me every step of the way. It shows the kind of guy he is. Things like that are why everyone was so happy when he finally got his Stanley Cup (as a Panthers’ executive last season). No one is more deserving than him.”
Lack would play another 57 games with Vancouver after the Classic. He was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in the summer after the following season for two draft picks, including the 2015 third-round pick the Canucks used on defenceman Guillaume Brisebois, 27, who, as it happens, is still in the organization.
He’s fourth in goals-against average (2.43) and third in save percentage (.917) among Vancouver goalies with at least 35 appearances in their careers with the team
His 82 regular-season appearances as a Canuck put him No. 17 among Vancouver netminders in games played, just behind Curt Ridley (96) and Cesare Maniago (93), and just ahead of Alex Auld (81), Kay Whitmore (74) and Gary Bromley (73). Kirk McLean (516), Luongo (448) and Richard Brodeur (377) are the top three on the list.
It feels like Lack was here longer, particularly for the current fan base. It’s because he was so willing to put himself out there on social media.
Lack started corresponding with the Canuck faithful not long after signing a two-year, two way deal with Vancouver as a free agent out of the Swedish Hockey League in April 2010. He maintains it wasn’t a case of him figuring out the power of X before most.
“I was one of those people who felt like I never wanted to let anyone down,” Lack says now. “When I first started on Twitter, I felt like I had to respond to everyone. Someone tweeted at me, I made it a point to respond. That was me not really understanding everything about it.
“That part did bring me closer to the fans, because they got to see the real me. They’d tweet at me and I’d respond and they’d be like, ‘Oh my God, he’s responding,’ because no one else (from pro hockey) was responding. That kind of made me stick out, I guess.”
He was probably the Canucks’ first social-media darling. Luongo was likely the second, with his Strombone handle on X.
Luongo stayed under the radar with it initially. There was scuttlebutt about it being him for a time and he eventually came clean about it.
“The guys on the team didn’t know Strombone was him until like way later,” Lack contends. “He kept that thing a secret for a very long time. It was almost like just until the end of his time that he fully embraced that it was him. In the beginning, it was like Roberto’s burner account. It was hilarious.
“He just gave me a smirk the first time I asked him, ‘Hey, this is you?’ He wouldn’t confirm or deny. It was funny.”
Through it all, Luongo was always helpful, according to Lack. He bought Lack breakfast on one of his first days at his first Canucks training camp. They shared strategies, because they played the game similarly.
Lack says he benefited from having accommodating goalie partners throughout his time in pro hockey. That included Ryan Miller and Markstrom in Vancouver.
Markstrom and Lack had played together growing up in Sweden, so they had a built-in tie before the Canucks. Markstrom, 34, has gone on to play with the Flames and the Devils since leaving Vancouver, giving him something else in common with Lack.
“He’s following in my footsteps, playing for every freaking team that I played for,” Lack says, chuckling all the while. “He’s just got Carolina left. He’s probably got another couple years in Jersey and then a couple of years in Carolina and he can call it quits. It would be perfect.”
Lack doesn’t miss playing, explaining that he’s pain-free after having those injury troubles. He had two hip surgeries.
“I was in so much pain in my hips and everything else for so long that I had peace of mind when I said goodbye to the game,” Lack explains. “I never really looked back from that. Don’t get me wrong — it was fun when I was in it, and I really enjoyed it, but I’m so happy to wake up in the same bed every morning and have my routine, and not having to worry if I’m good enough to play tonight or if I am going to get hurt.
“It took a few years after I was done playing to feel like I was good and healthy again.”
He enjoys the pressure of the real estate. He can equate it to the pressure of being a goalie on some level. And, as it happens, people’s memories of hockey helped him build a client list, particularly with so many Canadians looking to buy property in Arizona.
“In the beginning, it was because of hockey. They used to watch me play on TV and they’d say, ‘Oh, if I’m going to use an agent, I might as well use Eddie,’ ” Lack recalls. “I’ve been at it for a few years now and it’s starting to be more referrals from someone I helped in the past.
“It’s always fun to meet new people and feel like you’re helping people. I feel I’m helping people build wealth. I feel like I’m contributing.”
Mike Gillis was the Canucks’ general manager when Lack signed with the team. Gillis said of the native of Norrtalje, Sweden, then: “Our people think he’s got some really good potential. He was awfully slight and gained some muscle and he’s getting stronger, so his movements are more precise.”
Through his five-season NHL career, Lack was 56-55-18, with a 2.62 GAA and a .909 save percentage.
Eddie Lack’s favourites
Favourite Canucks coach: “I have to say Torts (Tortorella). I really liked playing for him. It has nothing to do with the outdoor game. I really liked Torts when I was a backup because I felt like Torts always cared for you. It could have been six, seven games in a row that I didn’t play, but he’d skate up to you and talk to you at practice or he’d talk to you in the locker-room. He always made me feel like I was part of the team, even though I wasn’t playing. That’s a great trait for him as a coach and a human.”
Favourite road city as a Canuck: “I have two. I’d say Chicago, because I played in the minors there. It was so fun to come back there and see friends and family there. My wife is from there. Chicago is great, and we always had great rivalries with them then. New York is my other one. We always went there for a few days before the first game and we’d play the Rangers, Islanders and Devils in one swoop, so you’d be there for like a week or eight days at a time. There’s a ton of stuff to do and see and good food.”
Favourite Canuck jersey: “I never played in the Skate, but that’s my favourite. The favourite I played in has to be the Millionaires’ one.”