Oct 16, 2014; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; linesman
Michel Cormier(76) escorts Boston Bruins forward
Milan Lucic(17) out of the rink during the third period against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Bruins took on the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre last night. The B’s lost 6-4. The Bruins made a few sloppy defensive plays in the second period, and were never able to recover from them. As bad as the loss was for the Bruins (now 2-4-0), the antics of Milan Lucic made it even worse.
Lucic is known for his solid, and extremely physical play. Lucic is a competitive person, and that drive caused him to cross a serious good taste line last night. Late in the third period the Bruins were down 5-4 with eighty seconds left to play. Lucic was called for boarding Alexei Emelin. While it looked like a pretty clear case, Lucic vehemently objected to the penalty. He then made his way into the penalty box. The crowd at the Bell Centre jeered him, and in turn Lucic imitated a sex act before a capacity crowd(and on televisions across Canada and the US).
Simply put, that was a really stupid thing to do.
Lucic is a professional athlete. He has been known to be aggressive and belligerent on the ice. It’s why he’s a fan favorite in Boston. I’m pretty sure he’s going to wake up later today and utter something along the lines of “Damn, that was pretty stupid.”.
Now there had been talk on the NHL Network that Stephane Quintal, the NHL’s new safety czar was in the Bell Centre. There is a history of violence and mayhem between these two franchises, (Quintal can claim to be both an ex-Bruin and an ex-Hab) and it made some sense for him to be there. Well, the new head of Player Safety sure got an eyeful with Lucic’s antics.
Perhaps Milan Lucic was just saluting the crowd. (The same way Andrew Ference did a few seasons back.) His salute was about a meter too low though. Ference was fined for flipping off the fans, and that was out of line. Lucic imitating a sex act was worse. He’s likely to be looking at a five digit fine for his actions. He might even get a one or two game suspension.
Lucic was not available for comment after the game, and the Bruins had no comment on his behavior.