Category — milan lucic

Milan Lucic/By S. Bradley

There were times two years ago that we thought nothing would stop Milan Lucic from becoming a dominant power forward and ascending to elite all-around status in the NHL.

This season, we found what it would take to slow Lucic — injuries. The bulky left winger was barely getting his legs back after returning from a broken finger in November when he suffered the dreaded high ankle sprain, which has been the bane of many a hockey player at every level for decades. [Read more →]

Milan Lucic. Photo by Sharon Bradley.

PHILADELPHIA — One second Milan Lucic saw his center David Krejci get leveled by Mike Richards at the Boston blue line, and the next the Bruins left winger saw the puck heading toward the Philadelphia blue line for a scoring opportunity.

A multi-faceted threat like Lucic, who’s expected to provide both scoring and toughness, obviously faced a dilemma at a critical juncture of the first period of Wednesday night’s Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Flyers. [Read more →]

BOSTON — This is the Milan Lucic, the two-way threat, the Bruins expected to be providing them with a punch all season now that he’s a third-year pro.

Of course, two serious injuries that keep a guy out of the lineup for 32 games have a way of sidetracking development.

But healthy and confident once again, the bulky Bruins winger is making life difficult for opponents when he has the puck and when he wants to take it. He showed both of his best attributes — his hitting and puck-protection — just before he scored the game-winning goal with 2:57 left in regulation tonight at TD Garden in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series with Philadelphia.

[Read more →]

Lucic

In the Bruins’ Game 2 and 4 victories over Buffalo in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Sabres, Boston head coach Claude Julien shifted left winger Milan Lucic to a line with Steve Begin and Shawn Thornton for the third period and added Daniel Paille to the left of center Patrice Bergeron and right winger Mark Recchi.

It looks like Julien will start tonight’s Game 5 with that alignment that has worked so well.

[Read more →]

Lucic

BOSTON – Whenever Milan Lucic isn’t playing “Milan Lucic-brand” hockey, head coach Claude Julien uses the same ploy to get the bulky winger’s attention.

Julien moves Lucic to a line opposite fellow gritty winger Shawn Thornton on the other side of whoever is serving the Bruins as the energy-line center of the moment. And the maneuver usually works because it wipes Lucic’s slate clean and reminds him what he has to do to be an effective forward.

“From talking to a lot of people, everyone always says when I get my feet moving, everything else tends to work,” said Lucic today at TD Garden after acknowledging that Thornton’s presence helps his cause. “So I’ve just got to focus on keeping my feet moving and everything else tends to fall into place for sure.” [Read more →]

Lucic

For those still bitter that Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli didn’t make a giant splash at the trade deadline, take heart.

Three weeks after that deadline, the Bruins have added Tomas Holmstrom.

While they didn’t steal away the five-time 20-goal-or-more scorer from Detroit, they did empower Milan Lucic over the weekend to do his best Holmstrom impersonation over the weekend in their 5-0 win over Calgary. With the success Boston had with the man advantage – three extra-attacker goals – the Bruins should keep Lucic as part of their power-play package tonight against Buffalo and however long the 2009-10 season lasts. [Read more →]

Lucic

Make sure you don’t miss the ESPNBoston.com player diary with Bruins forward Milan Lucic. It is a must-read for any Bruins fan.

This week, Lucic revealed that someone showed up to the team Halloween gathering dressed as former Boston winger Phil Kessel. There’s no word on whether he shied away from contact when asked to shake hands or was slowed down by the ridiculous amount of cash in his pockets.

Lucic

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that winger Milan Lucic would be out four to six weeks after he underwent successful surgery for his broken right index finger Sunday.

The absence of Lucic, who broke the finger against Dallas Friday and did not face Phoenix Saturday, plus the trade of Chuck Kobasew to Minnesota opens up lineup spots for Brad Marchand and Vladimir Sobotka to provide the club with some much-needed grit, toughness and determination.

Now we know that there is a bigger difference between Milan Lucic and Phil Kessel than just their size, nationality and style of play.

Yesterday Lucic declared his love for Boston while discussing his three-year contract extension. So instead of going through a lot of haggling next summer as a restricted free agent, Lucic now knows he’s going to stay in the only pro city he’s ever known. [Read more →]

The Boston Bruins today announced the signing of left winger Milan Lucic to a three-year contract extension. Lucic was scheduled to become a restricted free agent next summer.

Monetary terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal is worth a little more than $12 million over the course of the contract.

For my take on the signing, check out my blog at ESPNBoston.com.

Lucic

In just his second NHL season, Milan Lucic leaped up the depth chart to the Boston Bruins’ first line, threw a hit that put a player through the glass and will be replayed on every reel for decades to come, and was a major piece of the first Bruins team to win a playoff series in 10 years.

This offseason, things got even better with Lucic’s invitation to Hockey Canada’s Olympic orientation camp in Calgary last month. [Read more →]

As a former Memorial Cup champion and MVP, and a player that personifies the nose-to-the-grindstone sort of hockey every young Canadian aspires to play, Milan Lucic has been a darling of the media from North of the Border from even before he became an NHL sensation.

Lucic’s attendance at the Hockey Canada Olympic orientation camp has provided Canadian writers with the opportunity to rekindle their admiration for Lucic. George Johnson of the Calgary Herald today looks at Lucic’s desire to hit someone at the contact-free camp. [Read more →]

Lucic

Boston Bruins winger Milan Lucic was today announced as one of 46 invitees to attend Canada’s National Men’s Team orientation camp from August 24-27 in Calgary. The camp will be used as a tool to pick the team that will compete at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver in February.

The 21-year-old Lucic just completed his second NHL season, during which he set career-highs for goals (17), assists (25) and points (42). [Read more →]

Kane

MONTREAL — NHL Central Scouting’s Blair MacDonald sums up Vancouver Giants forward Evander Kane, the third-ranked North American skater heading into tomorrow’s 2009 NHL Entry Draft at Bell Centre, like this:

“He has power forward qualities from the blue line in. He’s the type of player who doesn’t like being denied access to the net. You can almost see when he’s got the puck he’s going to the net and defying people to stop him. He’ll be a 200-pound forward in the National Hockey League. He plays like he’s 6-2, 6-3, bigger than his size. He’s surprised a lot of people with his strength going to the net.”

Does the currently 6-foot-1, 176-pound sound like someone? How about Boston Bruins 6-3, 228-pound winger Milan Lucic, Kane’s former captain and mentor with the ’07 Memorial Cup-winning Giants club? [Read more →]

Boston Bruins winger Milan Lucic is certainly a man of his word.

When his rookie season concluded, Lucic said his goal over the summer was to improve enough that he could return for the 2008-09 season as a fixture among the Bruins’ top six forwards. Well, except for a few short stints on the club’s fourth line, Lucic spent this season banging bodies and creating room for some of his most-skilled teammates on one of Boston’s top two lines. And he wasn’t just a physical presence on those lines, as Lucic displayed improved hands and offensive dexterity throughout his impressive sophomore season. [Read more →]