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| Mike Liut | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Liut with theSt. Louis Blues in 1981 | |||
| Born | (1956-01-07)January 7, 1956 (age 69) 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 Dennis Liut (born January 7, 1956) is a Canadian former professionalice hockeygoaltender.
Liut played for theCincinnati Stingers of theWorld Hockey Association (WHA) from1977 to1979 and for theSt. Louis Blues,Hartford Whalers, andWashington Capitals of theNational Hockey League (NHL) from1979 to1992. He won the1981Lester B. Pearson Award for being themost valuable player according tohis fellow players, and posted the league's bestgoals against average in1989–90.
Liut playedcollege hockey atBowling Green State University. After being named twice to theCCHA 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 theWHA merged with the NHL in 1979, the Blues reclaimed Liut's rights.
With four seasons of NCAA D1 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 runner-up toWayne Gretzky for theHart Memorial Trophy for his efforts, and was selected as a First Team All-Star while won the Lester B. Pearson Trophy as league MVP, as determined by his peers. That fall, he wasCanada's starting goaltender at the1981 Canada Cup, which ended with an 8–1 loss to theSoviet Union in the final. Though he was not solely to blame, his reputation as a top-tier goaltender never fully recovered from the thrashing he took in the Finals 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 minderGreg Millen and forwardMark Johnson. The timing of the deal was a 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 financial. The Blues, one of the most budget conscious teams in the league, moved out Liut and his reported $900,000 salary (top on the team)[2] and brought in two players whose combined salaries were less than they were paying Liut. This was not lost on Liut, who said, "I'm sure (Blues ownerHarry 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 in 1985-86, he led the NHL in shutouts with four. In that same season, Liut backstopped the Whalers into theAdams Division finals, where they were defeated by theMontreal 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 was traded to the Washington Capitals late in the 1989-1990 campaign in exchange for forwardYvon Corriveau, leaving Hartford holding fourteen franchise goaltending records and sharing six other records.[4][5][2] 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[6] pressing Liut into service versus the New York Rangers. Liut won three straight games, including the last two in overtime[7] 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. Liut also posted the league's best goals-against average, a 2.53, while splitting time between the Whalers and Capitals, in 1989–90. He would spend two more seasons with the Capitals but had difficulty maintaining his workhorse status because of an injured back, an ailment that led to his retirement in 1991–92.[8] Liut was the last active WHA goalie in the NHL upon his retirement.[9]
Following his playing career, Liut joined theUniversity 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.[10]
Liut is a second cousin of former NHL playerRon Francis (who was also his teammate on the Whalers). Liut was amongst a handful of goaltenders to sport a plain white mask throughout his NHL career, opting not to use customized artwork on his mask.
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | ||
| 1971–72 | Markham Waxers | MetJHL | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | Dixie Beehives | OPJHL | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 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 | 4,396 | 270 | 3 | 3.69 | .878 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 179 | 10 | 0 | 3.35 | — | ||||
| NHL totals | 664 | 293 | 271 | 74 | 38,209 | 2,221 | 25 | 3.49 | .883 | 67 | 29 | 32 | 3,813 | 215 | 2 | 3.38 | .890 | ||||
| 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. RetrievedAugust 7, 2017.
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| All-CCHA First Team | 1974–75 | [11] |
| All-CCHA Second Team | 1975–76 | [11] |
| All-CCHA First Team | 1976–77 | [11] |
| CCHA Player of the Year | 1976–77 |
| Award | Year(s) |
|---|---|
| Lester B. Pearson Award | 1980–81 |
| NHL All-Star Game | 1981 |
| NHL First All-Star Team | 1980–81 |
| NHL Second All-Star Team | 1986–87 |
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Award Created | CCHA Player of the Year 1976–77 | Succeeded by |
