Watch out Vancouver, Bruins’ Lucic is coming back to get you
Lucic/By S. Bradley
BOSTON — No one in a Bruins sweater will attract more attention in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final than Milan Lucic.
A Vancouver native, Lucic admitted to growing up dreaming of playing for the Cup in a Canucks sweater for years. Now in the real-life version of his dreams, he’ll be trying to defeat his hometown team.
“I don’t know what it is. I mean, that makes it extra special,” said Lucic tonight after the Bruins’ 1-0 win over Tampa Bay at the TD Garden clinched the Eastern Conference crown.
“I mean, a lot of good things have happened to me in Vancouver. I played for the Vancouver Giants, won a WHL championship in Vancouver. Got drafted in Vancouver. Won a Memorial Cup in Vancouver, and here we go. It is the Stanley Cup in Vancouver. It is a dream come true, definitely. Just to make the Stanley Cup finals is a dream come true, but to be able to play in your hometown, it makes it extra special. I am going to do whatever I can to make the most of this opportunity. I know I am going to have to convert a lot of my, well my family is already converted, but a lot of my friends into Bruins fans, so that is going to be a little tough to do.”
So far Lucic has proven he can handle everything that’s thrown at him, so those conversions should come easy. Defeating the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Canucks, however, is going to take a team effort.
Playing the way the Bruins play defensively? There arent many good fighters on the Bruins except Chara, Thornton and Seidenberg. The Canucks try to start fights with weak fighters or people they know they can beat but? as soon as a good Bruins try to start a fight the Canucks wont fight. That why Burrows bit Bergy rather than Lucic or a defenseman. That “Whiny, cheap-ass team” is in the playoff for a reason.. THERE A FANTASTIC TEAM! At least the Bruins have won the Stanley Cup.
There were a few ticky tack kind of penalties-I mostly saw hooks and probably some stuff some refs might call interference or holding but they would have been soft calls.
For the most part the game was pretty clean-both sides got away with some little stuff-the kind of stuff teams often get away with in a game but not the next or in some cases in the same game.
I didn’t see any penalties where I wanted to scream at the TV set or complain about the horrible calls. I don’t think there was anything that was a clear game changer either. The refs did a good job, and both teams played pretty clean.
I find it funny when I read people saying there were no penalties, there should have been penalties. The only penalty I can think of is a Tampa Bay player interfering with Tyler Seguin. Other than that, I thought there should have been no penalties.
It’s a city but some argue that Far East/Eastern Colony is more like it. Some Eastern teachings don’t like hockey. Too much Wiolence.
a perfect game by the defense (and everybody else, except maybe Recchi) combined with only Roloson, Lecalvalier and Stamkos showing up at all for the Lightning led to quite a strange game. zero penalties? can anybody find out when that last happened for a game that featured the Bruins? the Lightning looked pitiful. they shied away from the puck for the entire night. while I still only think there’s a 37-43% chance of winning four games against Vancouver, seeing how well they can shut shit down makes me confident it will be a well-fought series. here’s to the Boston Bruins. they are pretty fucking awesome.
wonder who the turk, cam, and barry pederson plan to root for since they played for both teams.
oh, wait. i know which this team.
eat a big, fat cannoli, espo.
I am looking forward to seeing Lucic in this series. I suspect he will dig deep given that he is going to be playing in his home town.
I am not so sure he is going to get his friend to convert to the black and gold though.
I was 7 years old when my best friend/next door neighbour/linemate and I became Bruins fans during that ’90 final against the Oil, way back in Kingston, Ontario. 21 long years later, the Bruins are finally heading back… and despite the fact that I actually live in Vancouver now, I’m headed for Boston with my best friend, his brother and his dad to realize the dream of seeing our team play a Cup game in Beantown; should be one hell of a road trip. I’m so proud of the boys – stuck to the game plan, excellent composure, great puck support… the discipline was just outstanding tonight. Truly a monumental effort, and a game I’ll remember forever!