Olympic Final Post-Game Interviews with Roberto Luongo and Ryan Miller

See Kevin’s latest story on the game, just published this morning.

Check out our pre-game interviews with Roberto and Ryan as well.

Roberto Luongo

An obviously emotional Roberto Luongo was fighting back tears as he spoke with inGoal’s Kevin Woodley after the Gold Medal Game.

inGoal: How does it feel to be an Olympic Champion?

“it’s unreal. You work your whole life for a moment like this and it’s great to get rewarded.”

inGoal: What happened with the Pavelski shot in overtime?

“He got the puck in the slot and I knew he was going to shoot it right away by the spin-o-rama move he made. I was able to get an elbow on it and it stayed in front of me and kept the play going.”

inGoal: This was your first chance to be the go to guy on such a big stage?

“Right now there is so many thoughts going through my head, and thinking about so many people that helped me out along the way and it’s just a great feeling.”

inGoal: What did you think of Ryan Miller’s performance?

“He played unreal, he’s been playing unreal all year, giving his team a chance to win every night and as a goaltender that’s what you have to do.”

inGoal: What now?

“I just want to get back to the locker room and enjoy it with teammates and can’t wait to see my family.”

Ryan Miller

inGoal: How are you feeling now?

“I’m just very frustrated. We got ourselves in a position to win from two goals down and sudden death kind of stings, especially in this situation.”

inGoal: You had a great tournament though…

“I was happy, proud, the way I handled myself these two weeks.”

inGoal: Despite how it ended, you must be leased with what your team accomplished?

“We have every component to win, it just came down to OT.”

inGoal: What happened on the wining goal?

“The puck got caught up in the ref’s feet or somebody’s feet against the half wall and that spun our guys around for a second. Sidney as walking out as a lefty there and I thought he had his head down for a second but he got his head up right as I was going to make him make a decision. I’ve been aggressive all tournament and I wasn’t going to change my game just because we were in overtime.”

“I knew we lost. You just feel like s—.”

Before meeting with Kevin, Roberto also met with the general media group answering questions from the “scrum.”

What was that like?

“That was real fun. Not the last 20 seconds of the third, but the feeling that goes through your body when Sid scores like that, it’s unreal.”

Did you see Crosby’s goal?

“I didn’t know for sure. it was a sharp angle. But I’ve seen that release before and it’s hard to pick up, obviously when you shoot it quick like that it’s hard to close it.”

Were you surprised it was Sidney?

“It was fitting that Sid would get it. I couldn’t think of someone better who could put this in for us.”

What were you going through during the tying goal?

“It was disappointing. I thought we were so close to getting it there. It was bang-bang play. I made the first save and the puck ended up on his stick. He banged it home. But once we got back in the locker rooom, it was important to refocus. Not only for myself but for my teammates. We did that and played a great overtime.”

What was it like putting on a gold medal?

“It’s unreal. I worked hard my whole life for something like this and it’s nice to get rewarded. This medal is not only for myself but it’s for Canada and the people of Vancouver and the fans who have supported me since the first day I got here.”

The Americans, including your teammate, said you were fighting the puck. Did you feel that way?

“I’m wearing gold, I really don’t care what they think. Are you kidding me?”

What does this do for your legacy?

“I’ll leave it up to you guys, you guys can be the judge of that. But I got a gold medal around my neck and nobody can take that away from me.”

What about the skate around the ice during the medal ceremony?

“I had to pay a little bit back. They’ve been supporting me these two weeks. Obviously, they’ve been tremendously loud every time I touched the puck. I just wanted to give back a little.”

What’s next?

“I’m going to go and enjoy in the locker room with my buddies here who i’m going to have a bond with the rest of our lives. Then I’m going to spend some nice family time with all the people who came to see me.”

“What’s this week been like?”

“I had a blast this whole week. I think I came in with the right mindset and I enjoyed every minute of it. To have win it in overtime is an unreal feeling.”