Mike Liut

Michael Dennis Liut (LEE-oot; born January 7, 1956) is a Canadian former 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 in the fourth round 56th overall in the 1976 NHL amateur draft on June 1, 1976. However, Mike had also been drafted in the fifth round (50th overall) in the 1976 WHA amateur draft by the New England Whalers on May 17, 1976, and he would ultimately opt instead to play for the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA for two seasons (1977 - 1979). The Whalers had traded Liut to the Stingers for Greg Carroll and Bryan Maxwell, on May, 26, 1977. Two years later, the Edmonton Oilers then claimed Liut from the Stingers at the WHA Dispersal draft that was held on June 9, 1979. When the WHA merged with the NHL in 1979, the Blues reclaimed Liut's rights from the Oilers with the 24th pick in the 1979 NHL expansion draft on June 13, 1979.

NHL career St. Louis Blues (1979–1985)

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 to Wayne Gretzky for the Hart 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 was Canada's starting goaltender at the 1981 Canada Cup, which ended with an 8–1 loss to the Soviet Union in the final on September 13, 1981. 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.

Hartford Whalers (1985–1990)

During his sixth season with the Blues, Liut was traded to the Hartford Whalers with Jörgen Pettersson (ice hockey) in exchange for net minder Greg Millen and forward Mark Johnson on February 21, 1985. 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 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) 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 owner Harry Ornest) has been promoting a trade of some sort because of my salary."

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 the Adams Division finals, 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.

Washington Capitals (1990–1992) He was traded to the Washington Capitals late in the campaign of the 1989–90 NHL season in exchange for forward Yvon Corriveau on March 5, 1990, leaving Hartford holding fourteen franchise goaltending records and sharing six other records. pressing Liut into service versus the New York Rangers. Liut won three straight games, including the last two in overtime 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. Liut was the last active WHA goalie in the NHL upon his retirement. In his professional career (WHA/NHL), Liut went 324–310–78 as a starter.

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.

Liut is a second cousin of former NHL player Ron 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.

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) Goals Against Average leader (2.53) in 1989-90 season. NHL All Star Game selection (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 goalie in the decade of the 1980s Most shutouts (22) by a goalie in the decade of the 1980s Most games played (544) by a goalie in the decade of the 1980s Most minutes (31,597) by a goalie in the decade of the 1980s

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% 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

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

Awards and honours CCHA Award Year All-CCHA First Team 1974–75 All-CCHA Second Team 1975–76 All-CCHA First Team 1976–77 CCHA Player of the Year 1976–77

NHL 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