Mike Liut
Encyclopedia
Michael Dennis Liut is a retired Canadian
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 the his fellow players, and posted the league's best goals against average
in 1989–90
.
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.
for the Hart Trophy; he 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 a disappointing 8–1 loss to the Soviet Union in the final.
In 1985, Liut was traded to the Hartford Whalers where, in his second season, 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 OT 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 in 1990, but had difficulty maintaining his workhorse status because of a failing back, an ailment that led to his retirement in 1991–92.
Following his playing career, Liut joined the University of Michigan
as an assistant coach in 1995–96 until the end of the 1997–98 season. He received a law degree in 1995, and now heads up the ice hockey division at global sports management leader Octagon.
Liut is a second cousin of former NHL player Ron Francis
(who was also his teammate on the Whalers).
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
professional ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
goaltender
Goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender is the player who defends his team's goal net by stopping shots of the puck from entering his team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring...
.
Liut played for the Cincinnati Stingers
Cincinnati Stingers
The Cincinnati Stingers was an ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio, that played in the World Hockey Association from 1975 to 1979. Its home arena was Riverfront Coliseum and it was the only major-league hockey team ever to play in Cincinnati.-History:The Stingers franchise was awarded in...
of the World Hockey Association
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...
(WHA) from 1977 to 1979 and for the St. Louis Blues
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team is named after the famous W. C. Handy song "St. Louis Blues", and plays in the 19,150-seat Scottrade...
, Hartford Whalers
Hartford Whalers
The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.. The club played in the World Hockey Association from 1972–79 and in the National Hockey League from 1979–97...
, and Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...
of the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL) from 1979 to 1992. He won the 1981 Lester B. Pearson Award
Lester B. Pearson Award
The Ted Lindsay Award, formerly known as the Lester B. Pearson Award, is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's most outstanding player in the regular season as judged by the members of the NHL Players Association. It has been awarded 40 times to 23 different players since its beginnings...
for being the most valuable player
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
according to the his fellow players, and posted the league's best goals against average
Goals against average
Goals Against Average is a statistic used in ice hockey, water polo, lacrosse, and soccer that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender....
in 1989–90
1989-90 NHL season
-NHL awards:-All-Star teams:-Scoring Leaders:Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes, PPG = Powerplay Goals, SHG = Shorthanded Goals, GWG = Game Winning Goals-Leading goaltenders:...
.
College and WHA career
Liut played college hockeyCollege hockey
College hockey refers to ice hockey played between colleges with their teams composed of enrolled students. College hockey is played in Canada and the United States, though leagues outside of North America exist....
at Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University, often referred to as Bowling Green or BGSU, is a public, coeducational research university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The institution was granted a charter in 1910 by the State of Ohio as part of the Lowry Bill, which also established Kent State...
. After being named twice to the CCHA
Central Collegiate Hockey Association
The Central Collegiate Hockey Association is a NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey college athletic conference that operates mostly in Michigan and Ohio, although it also has members in Alaska and Indiana. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. It holds its championship...
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
Liut was outstanding in his debut with St. Louis. His first two seasons saw him pile up 71 victories. In 1980–81, he was voted a runner-up to Wayne GretzkyWayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
for the Hart Trophy; he 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
1981 Canada Cup
The 1981 Canada Cup was the second best-on-best ice hockey world championship and involved the world's top six hockey nations. Tournament games were held in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Ottawa. The Soviet Union defeated Canada in a single game final to win its first title, while Soviet...
, which ended with a disappointing 8–1 loss to the Soviet Union in the final.
In 1985, Liut was traded to the Hartford Whalers where, in his second season, he led the NHL in shutouts with four. In that same season, Liut backstopped the Whalers into the Adams Division
Adams Division
The NHL's Adams Division was formed in 1974 as part of the Prince of Wales Conference. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. It was named in honor of Charles Francis Adams, the founder of the Boston Bruins...
Semifinals, where they were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
in OT 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 in 1990, but had difficulty maintaining his workhorse status because of a failing back, an ailment that led to his retirement in 1991–92.
Following his playing career, Liut joined the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
as an assistant coach in 1995–96 until the end of the 1997–98 season. He received a law degree in 1995, and now heads up the ice hockey division at global sports management leader Octagon.
Liut is a second cousin of former NHL player Ron Francis
Ron Francis
Ronald Michael Francis, Jr. is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 23 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs...
(who was also his teammate on the Whalers).
Regular season
| Season Season (sports) In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an... |
Team | League | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA Goals against average Goals Against Average is a statistic used in ice hockey, water polo, lacrosse, and soccer that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender.... |
SV% Save percentage Save percentage is an ice hockey and lacrosse statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal a goaltender stops... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973–74 | Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University, often referred to as Bowling Green or BGSU, is a public, coeducational research university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The institution was granted a charter in 1910 by the State of Ohio as part of the Lowry Bill, which also established Kent State... |
NCAA | 24 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 1272 | 88 | 0 | 4.00 | .870 |
| 1974–75 | Bowling Green State University | NCAA | 20 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1174 | 78 | 0 | 3.99 | .882 |
| 1975–76 | Bowling Green State University | NCAA | 21 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1171 | 50 | 0 | 2.56 | .905 |
| 1976–77 | Bowling Green State University | NCAA | 24 | — | — | — | 1346 | 61 | 2 | 2.72 | — |
| 1977–78 | Cincinnati Stingers Cincinnati Stingers The Cincinnati Stingers was an ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio, that played in the World Hockey Association from 1975 to 1979. Its home arena was Riverfront Coliseum and it was the only major-league hockey team ever to play in Cincinnati.-History:The Stingers franchise was awarded in... |
WHA World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926... |
27 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 1215 | 86 | 0 | 4.25 | .870 |
| 1978–79 | Cincinnati Stingers | WHA | 54 | 23 | 27 | 4 | 3184 | 184 | 3 | 3.47 | .882 |
| 1979–80 | St. Louis Blues St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team is named after the famous W. C. Handy song "St. Louis Blues", and plays in the 19,150-seat Scottrade... |
NHL | 54 | 32 | 23 | 9 | 3661 | 194 | 2 | 3.18 | — |
| 1980–81 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 61 | 33 | 14 | 13 | 3570 | 199 | 1 | 3.34 | — |
| 1981–82 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 64 | 28 | 28 | 7 | 3691 | 250 | 2 | 4.06 | .876 |
| 1982–83 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 68 | 21 | 27 | 13 | 3794 | 235 | 1 | 3.72 | .878 |
| 1983–84 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 58 | 25 | 29 | 4 | 3425 | 197 | 3 | 3.45 | .884 |
| 1984–85 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 32 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 1869 | 119 | 1 | 3.82 | .880 |
| 1984–85 | Hartford Whalers Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.. The club played in the World Hockey Association from 1972–79 and in the National Hockey League from 1979–97... |
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 |
| 1986–87 | Hartford Whalers | NHL | 59 | 31 | 22 | 5 | 3476 | 187 | 4 | 3.23 | .885 |
| 1987–88 | Hartford Whalers | NHL | 60 | 25 | 28 | 5 | 3532 | 187 | 2 | 3.18 | .884 |
| 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 Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup... |
NHL | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 478 | 17 | 1 | 2.13 | .922 |
| 1990–91 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 35 | 13 | 16 | 3 | 1834 | 114 | 0 | 3.73 | .885 |
| 1991–92 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 21 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1123 | 70 | 1 | 3.74 | .875 |
| NHL totals | 664 | 294 | 271 | 74 | 38215 | 2221 | 25 | 3.48 | .881 | ||