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. 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 in exchange for net minder Greg Millen and forward Mark 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 owner Harry 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 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.
He was traded to the Washington Capitals late in the 1989-1990 campaign in exchange for forward Yvon 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 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. [10]
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.
Canada