[Article] Milan Lucic opens up about tough days with Oilers, Flames: 'I felt like I was alone'

[RWJC]

Milan Lucic opens up about tough days with Oilers, Flames: 'I felt like I was alone'

 

Bruins forward Milan Lucic admitted he thought about walking away from the final three years of his contract while playing for the Flames.

 

Thomas Hall

Tue, October 24, 2023 

 

Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic is soaking up every bit of his second stint with the Original Six franchise, especially considering there were previous times when he contemplated walking away from hockey.

 

Following eight delightful seasons in Boston, which included a Stanley Cup ring in 2011, Lucic was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in the final year of his contract ahead of the 2015-16 season. It was a major shock to his system, even though he completely understood the decision.

 

Fast-forward to four years later, and the 17-year NHL veteran was on the move via trade again, this time to the Calgary Flames after failing to meet expectations in two of his three seasons with the Edmonton Oilers.

 

Lucic was assured of a refined role with Calgary by then-head coach Bill Peters, but things didn’t play out that way. Instead, his ice time continued diminishing while his offensive production slipped even further.

 

The 6-foot-3 power forward had hoped to play to his strengths, which included driving to the net, advancing the puck up the ice and making his feared presence felt every time he hopped over the boards. But little of that transpired as he managed just eight goals and 20 points in 68 games while averaging 13:20 per night.

 

That usage — or lack thereof — caused Lucic to feel betrayed, and it nearly resulted in his retirement during the early stages of his Flames tenure.

“There were games where I’m playing four, five, six minutes. You’re like, ‘This is not what I signed up for. This is not even fun anymore,’” Lucic told The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa.

 

Things did improve dramatically following Peters' resignation due to a scandal in which he admitted using racial slurs in the AHL. That led to the hiring of Geoff Ward, who served as an assistant coach in Boston for seven of Lucic’s first eight seasons.
 

But the two weren’t paired for long, with Darryl Sutter replacing Ward as Calgary’s head coach midway through the 2020-21 campaign. And Lucic's feeling of being lost returned soon after.

 

That emotion originally derived from his days with the Oilers, particularly his second season, where he followed up a 50-point performance in 82 games with just 34 the next year. Signed to a massive seven-year, $42-million deal, he wanted to prove his worth.

 

“You’re a proud person and a proud athlete,” Lucic said. “You sign a big contract and you want to live up to the contract. I put a lot of pressure on myself to live up to a certain expectation — to live up to the contract I had signed.

 

"That kind of put me in a real rut and a real hole that I would never seem to find a way to get out of. What happened? I’m not entirely sure. But it wasn’t fun.”

 

Lucic mustered only six goals and 20 points across 79 contests during his final season in Edmonton, averaging 13:14 per night — his lowest total since his rookie campaign in Boston (12:07). Those struggles contributed to his feelings of negativity.

 

“My mindset became so polluted,” Lucic said. “I was always frustrated. I was always angry. I would be angry at the weather. I’d be angry if somebody cut me off. I’d be angry at little things. As much as we want to talk about it being in Edmonton, it was also me being frustrated and angry at myself.

"I was always in a hole that I felt I’d never get out of. Also at a lot of times, I felt like I was alone”…

 

link to rest of article:

https://ca.yahoo.com/sports/news/milan-lucic-opens-up-about-tough-days-with-oilers-flames-i-felt-like-i-was-alone-172239352.html

 

 

[Bob Long]

I said it back then, we should have traded Loui for him. 

[AatuD2]

"You’re a proud person and a proud athlete,” Lucic said. “You sign a big contract and you want to live up to the contract. I put a lot of pressure on myself to live up to a certain expectation — to live up to the contract I had signed." 

 

Wish Loui had more of this. He really mailed it in during the last three seasons of that 6 year contract. 

[Odd.]

He’s always been a big whiner. At least he’s likeable off the ice now.

 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

6 minutes ago, AatuD2 said:

"You’re a proud person and a proud athlete,” Lucic said. “You sign a big contract and you want to live up to the contract. I put a lot of pressure on myself to live up to a certain expectation — to live up to the contract I had signed." 

 

Wish Loui had more of this. He really mailed it in during the last three seasons of that 6 year contract. 

  He mailed it in *ALL* his seasons as a Canuck starting from his first shift.

Just now, Odd. said:

He’s always been a big whiner. At least he’s likeable off the ice now.

 

I dare you say that to his face.

 

(and yes, I wouldn't be scared ****less to say it to his face as well _

[Jeremy Hronek]

18 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

I said it back then, we should have traded Loui for him. 

 

Disagree.  Too much strain between the city of Vancouver and Lucic given what happened during 2011 and beyond (i.e. cup win + Lucic's arrogant cup celebration two months later + Lucic Church being vandalized + Lucic being slapped in the face in downtown in 2013.  

[Ronaldoescobar]

Boo fucking hoo

[Bob Long]

3 minutes ago, Jeremy Hronek said:

 

Disagree.  Too much strain between the city of Vancouver and Lucic given what happened during 2011 and beyond (i.e. cup win + Lucic's arrogant cup celebration two months later + Lucic Church being vandalized + Lucic being slapped in the face in downtown in 2013.  

 

nah, all would have been forgiven once he suited up and had his first fight in a Canucks jersey. 

 

Loui was awful but still had value at the time. Plus we wouldn't have been able to do the OEL deal. 

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

36 minutes ago, RWJC said:

The 6-foot-3 power forward had hoped to play to his strengths, which included driving to the net, advancing the puck up the ice and making his feared presence felt every time he hopped over the boards.

 

I guess it never occurred to him that the reason why he wasn't being played as much is because he wasn't really effective at doing what he considered to be his "strengths", and that his lack of effectiveness meant he was a liability when he was on the ice, hence the reduced ice time.

 

Despite all the criticism Loui Eriksson got, he did do the "little things" well - perhaps not 6x6 well, but well enough to have regular ice time and a role.

[AatuD2]

27 minutes ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

  He mailed it in *ALL* his seasons as a Canuck starting from his first shift.

I dare you say that to his face.

 

(and yes, I wouldn't be scared ****less to say it to his face as well _

 

I mean Loui tried and failed in the first couple of seasons.  His effort was there...  then the last three seasons he just started coasting and recorded 60 games without a hit or something insane haha

[AatuD2]

23 minutes ago, Jeremy Hronek said:

 

Disagree.  Too much strain between the city of Vancouver and Lucic given what happened during 2011 and beyond (i.e. cup win + Lucic's arrogant cup celebration two months later + Lucic Church being vandalized + Lucic being slapped in the face in downtown in 2013.  

 

He was punched (twice), not slapped by a drunk guy at a Granville St bar.  Showed incredible restraint from getting into a fight with him and waited for cops to come. 

 

There was nothing "arrogant" about him bringing the Stanley Cup back home to celebrate with friends and family.  

 

Lucic spends a lot of his summers passing through Vancouver, the strain is not there anymore.  That's all water under the bridge.  

[Crabcakes]

35 year old Lucic has played 4 out of 5 games with the Bruins this year and has tallied 2 assists and 2 pim's on an average of 11:58 in ice time.

 

He has had 1177 regular season games in the NHL which is a hell of a career.  1 last season with the Bruins, the team that drafted him.  Time to hang them up Looch.

[NewbieCanuckFan]

5 minutes ago, Crabcakes said:

35 year old Lucic has played 4 out of 5 games with the Bruins this year and has tallied 2 assists and 2 pim's on an average of 11:58 in ice time.

 

He has had 1177 regular season games in the NHL which is a hell of a career.  1 last season with the Bruins, the team that drafted him.  Time to hang them up Looch.

Played his junior right in our backyard but Ron Delorme was in Sweden scouting prospects.

 

(and I know we didn't have a 2nd round pick that year but it hardly that difficult to acquire one since we aren't talking about a 1st round pick).

[Wiggums]

Guys a beast and loves the game.  Props to him. 

[King Heffy]

3 hours ago, Bob Long said:

 

nah, all would have been forgiven once he suited up and had his first fight in a Canucks jersey. 

 

Loui was awful but still had value at the time. Plus we wouldn't have been able to do the OEL deal. 

LE was a lazy piece of trash but he wasn't nearly as much of a cancer as Lucic.  There's reason that gutless dirtbag has never played for a respectable franchise.  The way be disgraces the sport wouldn't have been tolerated here and it would be another Messier situation.

[Bob Long]

8 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

LE was a lazy piece of trash but he wasn't nearly as much of a cancer as Lucic.  There's reason that gutless dirtbag has never played for a respectable franchise.  The way be disgraces the sport wouldn't have been tolerated here and it would be another Messier situation.

 

Well... When you put it that way

[Jeremy Hronek]

11 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

LE was a lazy piece of trash but he wasn't nearly as much of a cancer as Lucic.  There's reason that gutless dirtbag has never played for a respectable franchise.  The way be disgraces the sport wouldn't have been tolerated here and it would be another Messier situation.

 

I'll go on record stating that I'm glad that he was punched twice in 2013 when he went downtown (a few hours after the Bruins had lost 6-2 to the Canucks). 

[King Heffy]

4 minutes ago, Jeremy Hronek said:

 

I'll go on record stating that I'm glad that he was punched twice in 2013 when he went downtown (a few hours after the Bruins had lost 6-2 to the Canucks). 

I'm just disappointed he seemed to be ok physically if not mentally.

[Hammertime]

 

it all makes sense now. 

[hockeyville88]

It’s a shame that Canadian teams can’t treat good Canadian players well and set them up to thrive in a pressure cooker market. Sucks that they have to head south in order to find any joy playing hockey

[Jeremy Hronek]

2 hours ago, King Heffy said:

I'm just disappointed he seemed to be ok physically if not mentally.

 

My only point of confusion these days is why is Lucic even getting all of this attention?  

 

When he re-signed with Boston,  a YouTube clip was created for his conversation with Cam Neely.  

 

And now this article.   

 

Lucic was a good player in his prime, but he was never a superstar.  

 

He has been a 4th line calibre player for what?  The last 5-6 seasons now?   

 

While a small part of me is happy for Lucic since he's back into a community that he wants to be a part of for the long term, I just don't understand all of this attention that's being placed on him.  He's Milan Lucic.  He ain't Joe Sakic. 

Edited October 25, 2023 by Jeremy Hronek

[Jeremy Hronek]

5 hours ago, AatuD2 said:

 

 

 

There was nothing "arrogant" about him bringing the Stanley Cup back home to celebrate with friends and family.  

 

  

 

Disagree. I can't recall exactly what happened as too much time has passed, but there was just something in the way that he tried to create attention for himself at the time when bringing the cup "home."  Joe Sakic brought the cup home to Vancouver/Burnaby back in 1996 and 2001 (Avs, and Sakic in particular, destroyed the Canucks en route to their cup victories in early playoff rounds) and no one had any issue with it. 

[RWJC]

13 minutes ago, Jeremy Hronek said:

 

Disagree. I can't recall exactly what happened as too much time has passed, but there was just something in the way that he tried to create attention for himself at the time when bringing the cup "home."  Joe Sakic brought the cup home to Vancouver/Burnaby back in 1996 and 2001 (Avs, and Sakic in particular, destroyed the Canucks en route to their cup victories in early playoff rounds) and no one had any issue with it. 

 

Are you talking about this? If so, I think you might be mistaken about the facts:

 

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/stanley-cup-kept-away-from-public-in-vancouver-visit-1.682571

 

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/805337-boston-bruins-milan-lucic-brings-cup-home-to-vancouver-locals-get-angry

 

 

[RWJC]

23 minutes ago, Jeremy Hronek said:

 

My only point of confusion these days is why is Lucic even getting all of this attention?  

 

When he re-signed with Boston,  a YouTube clip was created for his conversation with Cam Neely.  

 

And now this article.   

 

Lucic was a good player in his prime, but he was never a superstar.  

 

He has been a 4th line calibre player for what?  The last 5-6 seasons now?   

 

While a small part of me is happy for Lucic since he's back into a community that he wants to be a part of for the long term, I just don't understand all of this attention that's being placed on him.  He's Milan Lucic.  He ain't Joe Sakic. 

 

Likely because he's about to retire and he, for a time, was the Joe Sakic or higher of tough guys in the NHL.

Whether you feel it's warranted or not, there was a time where these types of guys were dominant and grossly manifested what a certain aspect of pro hockey in that era was all about. He's just receiving his last due. Nothing wrong with it, imho.

[Kragar]

15 hours ago, hockeyville88 said:

It’s a shame that Canadian teams can’t treat good Canadian players well and set them up to thrive in a pressure cooker market. Sucks that they have to head south in order to find any joy playing hockey

Helps to play in a city where the refs will give him more leeway, too.

 

Too many penalties, you tend to ride the pine.  Get away with penalties, and you get more ice time