It’s been a long time since it’s been done – 1947-48 to be exact. But the Vancouver Canucks today named goaltender Roberto Luongo as the 12th captain in the club’s history.

Although there’s apparently been a rule in place that didn’t allow goaltenders to serve as captains, or alternates, I’m presuming that the Canucks would have run this by the league first to make sure that it didn’t get smacked down.

Congratulations to Luongo – and to Ryan Kesler, Willie Mitchell, and Mattias Ohlund, who will serve as the alternates.

Update: According to TSN, the Canucks can certainly name Luongo as the captain, but he won’t wear the ‘C’ on his jersey. It’ll be up to the alternates to deal with the officials. So there’s the ruling.