BOSTON — Followers love having Milan Lucic again in a Bruins uniform and Milan Lucic loves being again in Boston.
After spending the primary eight seasons of his profession in Boston, the 35-year-old returned to the Bruins this offseason for a second stint with the crew.
Forward of the common season opener towards the Chicago Blackhawks, Lucic acquired one of many loudest ovations of the evening at TD Backyard.
“It was nice,” Lucic advised reporters after the sport. “Clearly, I used to be actually trying ahead to it. It was an actual particular second for me.”
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Because the Bruins honored legends of the previous in a pregame ceremony centered across the crew’s centennial anniversary, Lucic’s return additionally marked a reunion with fellow 2011 Stanley Cup champions corresponding to David Krejci, Tim Thomas, Patrice Bergeron, Shawn Thornton, Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask.
“It was nice to see some former teammates, too,” Lucic added. “I didn’t actually know what the pregame ceremony was going to be and who was going to be right here. It was nice to see these guys as effectively.”
The 100-year celebration supplied an opportunity to mirror for a participant with deep roots within the group’s historical past.
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“To be sincere, I used to be simply soaking all of it in like a fan,” Lucic stated. “On the bench there, it was actually cool to be part of. A very particular second for hockey historical past.”
All through the sport, Lucic definitely confirmed his uncooked emotion and his happiness in taking part in together with his unique crew.
“Clearly, it’s a particular time in your life with these years that I spent right here,” Lucic defined. “To have the ability to come again to a spot that’s so particular to me. It’s good to have emotion and present emotion.
Past the fanfare, Lucic made an instantaneous impression in Sport 1 of the season, incomes an help on David Pastrnak’s go-ahead purpose within the second interval. The veteran practically tallied one other help on an ideal contact cross to Pavel Zacha within the third interval, however the shot went simply large of the online.
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In his first common season sport again with Boston, Lucic did what was requested of him. He supplied a veteran voice on the bench for his teammates. He created alternatives as a passer and laid out just a few large hits to energise the group. His play helped the Bruins earn their first win of the season with a 3-1 victory.
“I believed Milan had a very nice camp,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery advised reporters after the win. “He came visiting in large form. Not solely what you guys see on the ice, be the best way he’s speaking on the bench. He’s taken over a very essential management function of speaking about find out how to construct our crew sport. The entire essential particulars.”
From the official welcome again to a contributing efficiency, Wednesday marked an amazing begin to the veteran’s second chapter in Boston.
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“It was good to be again, all in all,” Lucic stated.