November 1, 2011; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Milan Lucic (17) takes a shot during the second period against the Ottawa Senators at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE
Today the Boston Bruins home office announced the last of their contract extensions. Milan Lucic, Bruins forward and argueably the most popular Bruin on the squad, was signed to stay with the Bruins. The extension will keep Looch the Gooch in the black and gold sweater until the end of the 2015-2016 season. It was honestly hard to tell who was happier with the signing, Lucic or general manager Peter Chiarelli.
Here is Lucic’s take on the extension. “As a player I’ve always believed in Peter and Claude and what they were trying to build. Obviously, spending most of time with Claude, him being my coach, his system is something that I got used to in juniors and it works well with me. This is a place where I’ve always wanted to be,” Lucic said. “Obviously, a big thanks to all the fans here.”I think in Boston we have some of the best sports fans in the world, and they’ve embraced me, and without them I don’t think I’d be here either.”
Lucic also repeated what other recent re-signs like Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin have said. “We love the city, we love the fans, we love being Boston Bruins,” Lucic said. “I speak for everyone here as we couldn’t be happier to be in this spot.” Any good sports fan cheers for their team. A really good player loves their fans.
I still remember the response the Bruins got when they won the Stanley Cup in 2011. The Vancouver fans were rather lukewarm with the Bruins passing around the Cup till it came to Lucic. Lucic is one of those players that seems to exemplify hockey. He’s like Gordie Howe, or Wayne Gretzky, and even Bobby Orr. People who do not know hockey still know who these men are. I feel that one day Lucic will be one of those players that non-hockey people will say “Lucic? He was a really good hockey player, right?”
“It’s just part of us trying to extend our core players and keep this group together,” Chiarelli told BostonBruins.com. “Obviously a big strong kid like Milan is—I know he’s a crowd favorite—and a very important part of this team. We’ve got him for four more years now. This coming year, and then three more after that.” Lucic’s strength isn’t just scoring goals and being a physical presence for his team. Milan is one of those players that other players respect for being a hockey player that can fight. I’ve seen four of his fights live, and ‘wow.’ is all I can say.
Chiarelli has his core, Lucic has his security, and Bruins Nation has a team. A team that has an excellent chance to add 2013 Stanley Cup Champions to their resume. Now all we need is a season for them to prove it.