Roberto Luongo Interview - 2009 NHL Awards

Last week we met with Vancouver Canucks' captain Roberto Luongo at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas to discuss his favorite NHL cities, the Sedins, team flight poker games, and his future with the franchise. These are his stories.

Q: What do you think about the Awards coming to Las Vegas?
A: I think it’s awesome. You know the guys enjoy coming here and have a good time. I think they should probably bring more stuff here. Like the Draft, the All-Star Game, the pre-season, everything. The Winter Classic, they could do that here too right?

Q: What’s your favorite NHL city other than Las Vegas?
A: I was going to say Vegas. I like to go to Montreal because it’s my hometown. You know, LA is a good place to play. There's a bunch of great cities in the NHL so it’s tough to pick one. But Montreal is my hometown so I do enjoy going back there.

Q: In light of the Sedins rumored $126 million 12 year proposal have you considered a long term strategy regarding your next signing?
A: Well right now I think it’s still a bit early to talk about that for us. You know we definitely want to see what happens on July 1st with our team and see who comes in. We’ll make a decision after that but I know the Canucks organization is a winner and they want to win. That's always a good starting point.

Q: What do you do during the summer in terms of training?
A: A bit of everything. I don’t usually hit the ice until the end of July. I'm mostly training at the gym. The thing I’ll probably be doing a bit differently this year is I’ll probably be going back onto the ice a bit earlier than I’m used to and maybe try to get off to a better start to the season.

Q: Do you play poker with your teammates on the team flights?
A: Yeah, there are a lot of guys. But Darcy Hordichuk is by far the worst player I’ve ever seen. Guys like Juice always seem to be there at the end.

Q: Do the Sedins cheat at cards?
A: They talk in Swedish all the time so I don’t know what exactly they’re saying. But I’m sure they’re probably giving away their own hands.

A special thanks to Roberto for speaking with us. Best of luck next season.

* See also Today In NHL History - Luongo's Playoff Poop.
* See also Today In NHL History - Luongo's Stick Gets Stuck.
* See also Today In NHL History - Luongo Trade (FLA-VAN).
* See also Today In NHL History - Luongo Trade (NYI-FLA).
* See also Roberto Luongo Interview - 2011 NHL Awards.