Luongo benching catalyst for Canucks-Panthers trade
A seat at the end of the bench wound up getting Roberto Luongo a ticket out of Vancouver.
When Luongo was passed over for the start in the Heritage Classic against the Ottawa Senators at B.C. Place on Sunday in favour of Eddie Lack, the slight by Canucks coach John Tortorella led to a series of events that resulted in Luongo’s trade to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
The ball started rolling with a conversation between Pat Brisson, the agent of the former Canucks goaltender, and Canucks general manager Mike Gillis.
“If Lu had played Sunday the talks with the Canucks might have taken place at a later time,” Brisson told QMI Agency. “Therefore, it gave us a reason to discuss his status.”
As a result of the conversation with Gillis, Brisson started the process of exploring trade options for Luongo and the wheels started to turn on a deal that sent Luongo back to South Florida, where he played for five years before being traded to the Canucks in 2006.
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/03/05/agent-luongo-benching-catalyst-for-canucks-panthers-trade