The Boston Bruins gave a young rookie named Milan Lucic a chance in the NHL. Three years after making his NHL debut, not only did the Bruins give him a chance, they also allowed him to win hockey’s ultimate prize.
Lucic scored a career-high 30 goals in the 2010-11 regular season and in the playoffs, he scored five more with seven assists to help the Black and Gold complete the 16-victory journey through the Stanley Cup playoffs to hoist the Cup in Vancouver after beating the Canucks in Game 7 on June 15, 2011.
Ten years later, Lucic, who just completed his second season with the Calgary Flames, still is thankful for the opportunity he got with Boston and made his feeling known on Twitter Tuesday.
Ten years ago today I got live my dream and raise the Stanley cup as a Boston Bruin in the city I was born and raised in. #2011champs #stanleycup #bruins pic.twitter.com/Whsb92F6dO
— Milan Lucic (@27MilanLucic) June 15, 2021
Lucic lived out his dream with the Bruins in the spring of 2011 with a run through the postseason that not many will forget with many contributions from many different players. The 50th overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Lucic was a fan favorite during his time with the Bruins.
Lucic spent eight of 14 years in the NHL in Beantown with the team that drafted him, scoring 139 goals and handing out 203 helpers.
In the 2011 playoffs, Lucic played on a line with David Krejci and Nathan Horton. In Game 3 of the Finals at the TD Garden, Horton was knocked out of the remaining four games of the series he took a hit from Vancouver’s Aaron Rome, who was suspended four games for the hit.
That trio was one of the league’s best lines in the playoffs until the hit Horton took from Rome. Horton was never the same player in the years that followed that hit.
Ten years later, Lucic still remembers the greatest moment of his playing career with the team that gave him the chance by drafting him. He will always remember where his roots began.