Mike Liut

Mike Liut
Liut in 1981.
Born (1956-01-07) January 7, 1956
Weston, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Cincinnati Stingers
St. Louis Blues
Hartford Whalers
Washington Capitals
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 56th overall, 1976
St. Louis Blues
WHA Draft 50th overall, 1976
New England Whalers
Playing career 1977–1992

Michael "Mike" Dennis Liut (born January 7, 1956) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender.

Liut played for the Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1977 to 1979 and for the St. Louis Blues, Hartford Whalers, and Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to 1992. He won the 1981 Lester B. Pearson Award for being the most valuable player according to his fellow players, and posted the league's best goals against average in 1989–90.

College and WHA career

Liut played college hockey at Bowling Green State University. After being named twice to the CCHA First All-Star team, the St. Louis Blues selected him 56th overall in 1976. However, he opted instead to play for the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA for two seasons. When the WHA merged with the NHL in 1979, the Blues reclaimed Liut's rights.

NHL career

With four seasons of College hockey and two seasons of pro hockey in the World Hockey Association under his belt, Mike Liut arrived in St. Louis - and the National Hockey League - ready to step in and contribute. He immediately took over the starting duties for the Blues and made a major impact playing 64 games and posting a record of 32-23-9. His second season saw him improve and become arguably the top goaltender in the league posting a record of 33-14-13. He was voted a runner-up to Wayne Gretzky for the Hart Memorial Trophy for his efforts and was selected as a First Team All-Star and won the Lester B. Pearson Trophy as the league's MVP as determined by his peers. That fall, he was Canada's starting goaltender at the 1981 Canada Cup, which ended with an 8–1 loss to the Soviet Union in the final. Though he was not solely to blame, Liut's reputation as a top tier goaltender would never fully recover from the thrashing he took in that game and he would not represent Canada again in subsequent Canada Cup tournaments.

During his sixth season with the Blues, Liut was traded to the Hartford Whalers in exchange for net minder Greg Millen and forward Mark Johnson. The timing of the deal was a little odd because the Blues were in first place in the Norris Division at the time of the transaction[1] but the reason behind the swap appeared to be money. The Blues, one of the most budget conscious teams in the league, moved out Liut and his reported $900,000 salary (tops on the team)[2] and brought in two players who's combined salaries were less than they were paying Liut. This was not lost on Liut, who said, "I'm sure (Blues owner Harry Ornest) has been promoting a trade of some sort because of my salary."[3]

With the Whalers, Liut provided a steadying influence and in his second season with the club, he led the NHL in shutouts with four. In that same season, Liut backstopped the Whalers into the Adams Division semifinals, where they were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens in overtime of the seventh game in a memorable playoff series. The Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup that year. In 1986–87, Liut led the Whalers to their first and only Adams Division title and was named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team. He also posted the league's best goals-against average, with the Whalers, in 1989–90.

He was traded to the Washington Capitals late in the 1989-1990 campaign and left Hartford holding fourteen franchise goaltending records and sharing six other records.[4] With the Capitals, Liut joined another veteran, Don Beaupre, in handling the goaltending duties and his acquisition proved important in the post season when Beaupre was felled by an injury[5] pressing Liut into service versus the New York Rangers. Liut won three straight games, including the last two in overtime[6] to send the Capitals to their first ever Semi-Final berth to face the Boston Bruins where they were swept out of the playoffs. His heroics versus the Rangers would prove to be his last hurrah. He spent two more seasons with the Capitals but had difficulty maintaining his workhorse status because of a failing back, an ailment that led to his retirement in 1991–92. Liut was the last active WHA goalie in the NHL upon his retirement.[7]

Following his playing career, Liut joined the University of Michigan as an assistant coach in 1995 until the end of the 1997–98 season. He received a law degree in 1995, and now heads the ice hockey division at global sports management leader Octagon.[8]

Liut is a second cousin of former NHL player Ron Francis (who was also his teammate on the Whalers).

Career Achievements

  • Ted Lindsay Award (Formerly Lester B Pearson)voted MVP by the NHLPA in 1980-81 season.
  • 1st Team All Star (1980–81)
  • 2nd Team All Star (1986–87)
  • Led NHL in Goals Against Average (2.53) in 1989-90 season.
  • NHL All Star Game (1981)
  • Led NHL in Shutouts in (1986–87) and (1989–90) seasons.
  • Won "Silver" in 1981 World/Canada Cup as starting Goalie for Team Canada.
  • Led NHL in "Games Played" and "Minutes" in (1981–82) and (1982–83) seasons.
  • Most Wins (239) by a Goaltender in the 1980s decade.
  • Most Shutouts (22) by a Goaltender in the 1980s decade.
  • Most Games Played (544) by a Goaltender in the 1980s decade.
  • Most Minutes (31597) played by a Goaltender in the 1980s decade.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1973–74 Bowling Green State University CCHA 24 10 12 0 1272 88 1 4.15 .870 — — — — — — — —
1974–75 Bowling Green State University CCHA 20 12 6 1 1174 78 0 3.99 .882 — — — — — — — —
1975–76 Bowling Green State University CCHA 21 13 5 0 1171 50 0 2.56 .905 — — — — — — — —
1976–77 Bowling Green State University CCHA 24 18 4 0 1346 61 2 2.72 — — — — — — — — —
1977–78 Cincinnati Stingers WHA 27 8 12 0 1215 86 0 4.25 .870 — — — — — — — —
1978–79 Cincinnati Stingers WHA 54 23 27 4 3181 184 3 3.47 .882 3 1 2 179 10 0 3.35 —
1979–80 St. Louis Blues NHL 54 32 23 9 3661 194 2 3.18 .896 3 0 3 193 12 0 3.73 .891
1980–81 St. Louis Blues NHL 61 33 14 13 3570 199 1 3.34 .892 11 5 6 685 50 0 4.38 .857
1981–82 St. Louis Blues NHL 64 28 28 7 3691 250 2 4.06 .876 10 5 3 494 27 0 3.28 .895
1982–83 St. Louis Blues NHL 68 21 27 13 3794 235 1 3.72 .878 4 1 3 240 15 0 3.75 .899
1983–84 St. Louis Blues NHL 58 25 29 4 3425 197 3 3.45 .884 11 6 5 714 29 1 2.44 .920
1984–85 St. Louis Blues NHL 32 12 12 6 1869 119 1 3.82 .880 — — — — — — — —
1984–85 Hartford Whalers NHL 12 4 7 1 731 36 1 2.95 .914 — — — — — — — —
1985–86 Hartford Whalers NHL 57 27 23 4 3282 198 2 3.62 .874 8 5 2 441 14 1 1.90 .938
1986–87 Hartford Whalers NHL 59 31 22 5 3476 187 4 3.23 .885 6 2 4 332 25 0 4.52 .843
1987–88 Hartford Whalers NHL 60 25 28 5 3532 187 2 3.18 .884 3 1 1 159 11 0 4.16 .866
1988–89 Hartford Whalers NHL 35 13 19 1 2006 142 1 4.25 .861 — — — — — — — —
1989–90 Hartford Whalers NHL 29 15 12 1 1683 74 3 2.64 .901 — — — — — — — —
1989–90 Washington Capitals NHL 8 4 4 0 478 17 1 2.13 .922 9 4 4 507 28 0 3.31 .874
1990–91 Washington Capitals NHL 35 13 16 3 1834 114 0 3.73 .885 2 0 1 48 4 0 4.98 .867
1991–92 Washington Capitals NHL 21 10 7 2 1123 70 1 3.74 .875 — — — — — — — —
WHA totals 81 31 39 4 4396 270 3 3.69 .878 3 1 2 179 10 0 3.35 —
NHL totals 664 294 271 74 38,209 2221 25 3.49 .883 67 29 32 3813 215 2 3.38 .890

International

Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA
1981 Canada CC 6 4 1 1 360 19 1 3.17

"Liut's stats". The Goaltender Home Page. Retrieved 2017-08-07.

Awards and honours

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