Michael "Mike" Dennis Liut (born January 7, 1956) 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.
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
Liut was outstanding in his debut with St. Louis. His first two seasons saw him pile up 65 victories. In 1980-81, he was voted a runner-up to Wayne Gretzky 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 an 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 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 in 1990, 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.
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).
Career statistics
Regular season
Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | 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 |
1979-80 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 54 | 32 | 23 | 9 | 3661 | 194 | 2 | 3.18 | .896 |
1980-81 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 61 | 33 | 14 | 13 | 3570 | 199 | 1 | 3.34 | .892 |
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 | 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 | 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 |
WHA totals | 81 | 31 | 39 | 4 | 4396 | 270 | 3 | 3.69 | .878 | ||
NHL totals | 664 | 294 | 271 | 74 | 38,209 | 2221 | 25 | 3.49 | .883 |
Playoffs
Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1978-79 | Cincinnati Stingers | WHA | 3 | 1 | 2 | 179 | 10 | 0 | 3.35 | — |
1979-80 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 3 | 0 | 3 | 193 | 12 | 0 | 3.73 | .891 |
1980-81 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 11 | 5 | 6 | 685 | 50 | 0 | 4.38 | .857 |
1981-82 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 10 | 5 | 3 | 494 | 27 | 0 | 3.28 | .895 |
1982-83 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 4 | 1 | 3 | 240 | 15 | 0 | 3.75 | .899 |
1983-84 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 11 | 6 | 5 | 714 | 29 | 1 | 2.44 | .920 |
1985-86 | Hartford Whalers | NHL | 8 | 5 | 2 | 441 | 14 | 1 | 1.90 | .938 |
1986-87 | Hartford Whalers | NHL | 6 | 2 | 4 | 332 | 25 | 0 | 4.52 | .843 |
1987-88 | Hartford Whalers | NHL | 3 | 1 | 1 | 159 | 11 | 0 | 4.16 | .866 |
1989-90 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 9 | 4 | 4 | 507 | 28 | 0 | 3.31 | .874 |
1990-91 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 2 | 0 | 1 | 48 | 4 | 0 | 4.98 | .867 |
NHL totals | 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 | |
Senior totals | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 360 | 19 | 1 | 3.17 |
Awards and honours
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