Luongo aiming for opening-night start after hip surgery

Roberto Luongo is hopeful he won't miss any regular-season action after undergoing hip surgery back in late May to repair an issue that bothered him throughout last season, albeit not enough to hinder what was an outstanding overall performance by the veteran goaltender.

The procedure carried an expected recovery time of five months, meaning Luongo was initially projected to miss at least a handful of Florida Panthers games at the beginning of next season. But after returning to the ice Aug. 5, it seems as though he could indeed be manning the crease when the club opens 2016-17 on Oct. 13 against New Jersey.

"I'm excited, hopeful to be where I want to be when everything gets going," Luongo told George Richards of the Miami Herald on Wednesday.

"I'm not 100 percent; it's a five-month rehab. But I'm feeling better than I thought I would. I thought it would be a slower progression, especially on the ice. It has gone fairly quickly and I'm happy about that. If the season were to start tomorrow, I probably wouldn't be able to go. But I feel good where I'm at and I'm excited about it."

The Panthers added both James Reimer and Reto Berra to the roster during the offseason, with the former expected to garner a fair share of starts in order to ensure Luongo is fresh for the postseason, or even step in as the starter in the event of another injury.

At this point in his career, the added rest isn't something Luongo will complain about.

"I'm mature enough now to see that at 37, it's tough to play 60 games especially with the travel and all that. To me, it's all about the success of the team here. With Reimer backing me up and playing some games, it should put us in a good position where we want to be come playoff time and that's what it is all about."

For now, however, it's all systems go with a view to starting strong once the puck drops on a new season.