Christopher John Luongo (born March 17, 1967) is an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

coach and former ice hockey player. Luongo played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) for the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

, and

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

between 1991 and 1996. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1989 to 2004, was spent in various minor leagues, and then several years in the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

. Internationally Luongo played for the American national team at three World Championships. After retiring from playing, Luongo turned to coaching, and has spent several years as an assistant coach at the American collegiate level.

Biography

Luongo was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and grew up in Fraser, Michigan. As a youth, he played in the 1980

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with the Detroit Compuware

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from cla ...

team. Luongo was a stay-at-home defenseman who played in 218 games in his NHL career, scoring 8 goals and 23 assists for 31 points and collecting 176 penalty minutes. Drafted by his hometown Red Wings in 1985, he then accepted a scholarship to

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

where he enjoyed a four-year career with the

Spartans Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...

, earning the team's "Dr. John Downs Outstanding Defensive Player Award" in 1988 and 1989. He spent 1989 to 1992 in the Red Wings organization before signing with the Ottawa Senators as a free agent. After one season in Ottawa, he was traded to the New York Islanders, where he finished his NHL career in 1996. Luongo was also a member of the U.S. squad at the 1996, 1997, and 2000 World Championships, winning the bronze medal in 1996. From 1997 to 2004, Luongo played in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, playing for

EV Landshut EV Landshut, also known as EVL Landshut Eishockey and formerly known as the Landshut Cannibals, are a professional ice hockey team based in Landshut, Bavaria, Germany. They currently play in Deutsche Eishockey Liga 2, the second level of ice hoc ...

Munich Barons The Munich Barons were a professional ice hockey team between 1999 and 2002 run by the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) in the German Ice Hockey League (''German: Deutsche Eishockey Liga - DEL''). The best year the team had was in 2000 when th ...

, Nuremberg Ice Tigers and the Krefeld Pinguine. Luongo currently resides in

Novi, Michigan Novi ( ) is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 66,243, an increase of 20% from the 2010 census. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Novi is located about northwest of the city of D ...

, and his two sons, Anthony and Christopher. He also has a dog named Tyson.

Coaching

Luongo spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Wayne State Warriors. In September 2008 he joined the UAH Chargers as an assistant coach under head coach

Danton Cole Danton Edward Cole (born January 10, 1967) is an American former professional hockey player and the former head coach of the Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey, Michigan State Spartans men's hockey team. He had guided the USA Hockey Nationa ...

, who was a teammate of Luongo's at Michigan State. In 2010, he was named head coach of the Chargers, and coached the team for two seasons. After leaving UAH in 2012, he took a break from coaching until joining the National Team Development Program from 2015 to 2017 as assistant coach. Since 2017, Luongo has served as the assistant coach for the Michigan State men's hockey team under Cole.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Head coaching record

Awards and honors

References

External links

* 1967 births Living people Alabama–Huntsville Chargers men's ice hockey coaches American men's ice hockey defensemen Denver Grizzlies players Detroit Red Wings draft picks Detroit Red Wings players Detroit Vipers players EV Landshut players Ice hockey coaches from Michigan Ice hockey players from Michigan Krefeld Pinguine players Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey players Milwaukee Admirals (IHL) players München Barons players NCAA men's ice hockey national champions New Haven Senators players New York Islanders players Nürnberg Ice Tigers players Ottawa Senators players People from Fraser, Michigan Sportspeople from Macomb County, Michigan People from Novi, Michigan Ice hockey people from Oakland County, Michigan Phoenix Roadrunners (IHL) players Salt Lake Golden Eagles (IHL) players {{US-icehockey-defenseman-stub