Mike Liut

Mike Liut

Born: January 7, 1956
Age: 68
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Biography

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.

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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

CCHA
Award Year(s)
All-CCHA First Team 1974-75, 1976-77
CCHA Player of the Year 1976-77
All-CCHA Second Team 1975-76
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

[ Source: Wikipedia ]