Three More Years Of Milan: The Lucic Craze In Boston Continues

At just 21 years old, Lucic has arguably become the face of the Bruins franchise to the casual fan in just his third season in the National Hockey League. Just what makes this hulking left winger so popular in the Hub of Hockey?

For one, he reminds Bruins fans of a certain number hanging in the rafters of the Garden, Cam Neely. While Lucic has yet to develop the offensive skills that Neely possessed, Lucic has the frame of a power forward with a dangerously high level of tenacity and aggression when on the ice.

While Neely still receives booming ovations when shown on the Garden jumbo-tron, be it in classic clips, opening videos or live shots from the ninth level of the TD Garden there’s no louder chants heard than when Lucic is on the ice. As the Boston faithful chant their overpoweringly loud chorus of “Loo”, you know the 6′4 forward is stalking an impending victim for a devastating body check and about to create some offensive chances for his linemates in the process.

To say Lucic is more than a just another fight wouldn’t be doing the Vancouver native any justice, as HockeyFights.com has Lucic boasting a 18-4-2 record in the regular season when it comes to dropping the mittens.

In just the past month alone, Milan Lucic has single-handedly bloodied two guys in fights. Lucic’s first victim was Senators enforcer and known tough-guy Chris Neil, who was essentially asking for it after leveling Boston star forward Marc Savard during a preseason tilt. However, the newest face to get pummeled by number 17 is that of Jay Harrison, a defensemen for the Carolina Hurricanes who was getting under the skin of every Boston player throughout the night until his exchange (or lack thereof on his part) of blows with Lucic.

Already achieving of cult status in the city of Boston, the popularity of Lucic is growing relentlessly. “Lucic Crew” shirts with the number 17 on the back along with the phrase “Ass-Kicker” on the nameplate have quickly become a staple in the balcony of every Bruins home game.

While Lucic may have golden-glove-like qualities, primarily from his days as a teenage boxer in British Columbia, it’s becoming more evident that he has more than mediocre skills on the offensive spectrum of things. Playing on Boston’s top line last season, Lucic put together a 42 point season, including 17 goals, including three game winners. Even more impressive for Lucic enthusiasts in 2008-09 was the fact that his penalty minutes actually increased by 47 minutes from the previous season

Outside of the hockey bubble in Boston, the bruising forward is primarily known for his hate-fueled rivalry with defensemen Mike Komisarek. The two, who have been going at it since Lucic’s rookie season, have not only exchanged words, shoves and checks; but fists, twice, with Lucic winning both decisions handily.

In Montreal, there’s no debating that Lucic has become enemy number one for his refusal to drop the gloves with Georges Laraque on numerous occasions as he prefers to instead beat the Canadiens on the scoreboard rather than toil in the penalty box for five with an old fashioned “goon” by NHL standards.

Without question Boston fans love the physical presence provided by their second round choice from the 2006 NHL Draft, as their near 20 foot tall banner featuring Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic proclaiming that “Big & Bad Are Back” featured on the outside wall of the TD Garden tells us, it’s becoming clear that Lucic has matured immensely through the lessons and mentoring by both head coach Claude Julien and Bruins VP Cam Neely. In just two seasons with the Bruins, Lucic has driven home the point that he’s at his best when the team needs him most. For Lucic, his time to shine has been throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs where in just 17 career games he’s put up 11 points and a +11.

With the Boston Bruins quickly on the rise within their own city and the National Hockey League as a whole, the spotlight on the Bruins prized winger is certainly going to grow larger with the team’s rising success.

Looked upon as a game-changer for the B’s, at the age of 21 mind you, Lucic has shown a willingness to destroy anything and anyone in the Bruins way for a victory and after Saturday night’s display on the Garden ice, we shouldn’t expect him to stop anytime soon as Lucic became a very rich man when he agreed to a three year contract extension through the 2012-13 season worth 12.25 million dollars.

30 Teams In 30 Days: A Tougher Toronto In '09

Hello Toronto, this is Brian Burke. He's here to fix the cataclysmic series of bad events happening here in recent years and end a near 45-year drought.

Upon the arrival of the 2008-09 NHL season, the Maple Leafs were without a familiar face in not just Toronto, but all of Ontario. Putting a name to the face leads you to 38 year old forward Mats Sundin. The Leafs all-time point leader, Sundin left Toronto, a place he called home and captained for 13 seasons and was officially a free agent. Sundin was still chasing the ever elusive Stanley Cup, a goal he's yet to even come close to in his entire 18 year career.

Following Sundin's departure, fellow Leafs teammates Andrew Raycroft and gritty forward Darcy Tucker left the club through free agency and after a trade that sent Bryan McCabe packing for Florida, the Leafs seemed to be in serious trouble heading into their 91st year of hockey.

The additions to the Maple Leafs in 2008 included defensemen Jeff Finger, Stars forward Niklas Hagman and Montreal-castaway Mikhali Grabovski. Despite these additions, the Leafs couldn't compete in this year's Eastern Conference. The team's lack of a solid goaltender was undoubtedly their biggest downfall as Vesa Toskala spent significant amounts of time on the injured reserve while Curtis Joseph continued to provide loss after loss. This lack of goaltending put the Leafs in the unfortunate situation of rushing Justin Pogge to the NHL along with trading for veterans Martin Gerber and Olaf Kolzig to try and sure up the holes in the crease.

Heading into the summer of 2009, Leafs fans were anxious to see how Brian Burke was going to put his stamp on the club as this was his first real off-season with the club. Burke wasted no time in drafting Nazem Kadri, despite his apparent desire to create another brother combo in Toronto like he did with the Sedin's in Vancouver and Niedermayer's in Anaheim with his interest in drafting Brayden Schenn.

Burke's biggest splash was ultimately made through free agency with size being a major need for the Maple Leafs in his eyes, something he has preached about for years. Addressing this issue, the Leafs signed Mike Komisarek away from their rival Montreal Canadiens with a four year contract worth four and a half million dollars a season. To complement the signing of Komisarek, the Leafs were also able to add former Anaheim defensemen Francois Beauchemin to the roster through free agency. In what was a somewhat expected move, the Leafs then sent defensemen and alternate captain Pavel Kubina to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for Colin Stuart and Garnet Exelby.

In true Burke fashion, the Maple Leafs now had a large set of bigger defensemen with great physical styles of play. Adding to the bigger squad, the signing of Colton Orr to a four-year contract had the Leafs already looking to be a far grittier team in 2009.

The biggest problem remained in the crease of the Air Canada Center. The Leafs goaltending was simply horrid in 2008-09 and Vesa Toskala (and his deceptive record of 22-17-11) was a headache to watch every night and Curtis Joseph, or what's left of him anyhow was no relief. The idea that the Leafs still needed a legitimate number one goaltender for the future remained.

Insert Jonas Gustavsson. Also known as "The Monster" in Sweden, the 24 year old goaltender simply dominated the Swedish Elite League yet again in 2008-09 with his 1.96 GAA and even more impressive and record setting 1.03 GAA, .961 save percentage and 5 shutouts in the SEL Playoffs. Although many rumors indicated Gustavsson was heading to Vancouver to replace former Boston College goaltender Cory Schneider, the Monster signed a one year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs and will become a restricted free agent at the end of the 2009-10 season.

If Gustavsson is to falter, which has become a relatively more common thing involving European goaltenders who dominate their leagues overseas the Leafs have insurance policy Joey McDonald waiting down in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies.

As it stands right now, the Maple Leafs have just over two million in cap space and with the reacquiring of their 2010 second round pick from the Chicago Blackhawks it appears as if Brian Burke is preparing to make a big run at Boston sniper and restricted free agent Phil Kessel. If Boston and Toronto are to work out a deal involving the 21 year old forward, Toronto would gain a first line type player they desperately need while Boston would likely obtain the Leafs first three draft choices from the 2010 Draft.

However, with 2010 expected to be one of the poorer draft classes in recent years the idea of Boston matching the offer in order to work out a trade with Toronto seems likely. This will definitely be a story to keep your eyes on as the NHL season draws closer.

Here is how the Leafs line-up should shake up come October 3rd.

Jason Blake - Mikhali Grabovski - Lee Stempniak

Niklas Hagman - Matt Stajan - Alexei Ponikarovsky

Nikolai Kulemin - Jiri Tlusty - Jamal Mayers

Colton Orr - John Mitchell - Wayne Primeau

Extra Skater: Rickard Wallin

Mike Komisarek - Tomas Kaberle

Luke Schenn - Francois Beauchemin

Jeff Finger - Ian White

Extra Skaters: Mike Van Ryn, Garnet Exelby

Vesa Toskala
Jonas Gustavsson

This team essentially needs a superstar forward in order to make a serious run for the playoffs. Is Kessel that player? It's entirely possible, but still may not be enough and will be a total non-factor until he's officially out of Boston and into Toronto. The defense for the Leafs may be stronger, but it may be a great idea for Burke to look to shop Kaberle for some help on the forward front. It's still too early for the Burke Plan to become a plan lasting into mid-April and will continue to be in process of building a complete team in Toronto this season.

Players To Watch: Luke Schenn, it'll be interesting to see how the 19 year old performs in his second season in the NHL. Him being a prized possession of Brian Burke only tells you good things about his future. Jonas Gustavsson is also an obvious player to be watching for Toronto this season, just how does the Monster handle the NHL? Will he be the next Henrik Lundqvist, or the next Hannu Toivonen?

Prediction: 4th in Northeast Division. 9th in Eastern Conference.

Free Agent Frenzy: 10 Best Defensemen

Continuing on the "Free Agent Frenzy" pieces, we have the ten best defensemen available come July 1st. In what is rapidly becoming an aging position, the market for defensemen is sure to be big for teams looking to add that big physical presence or that puck-moving defensemen to put their club over the edge for the Stanley Cup.

10) Mathieu Schneider - What a year it's been for the 40 year old defensemen. Schneider's season began in Anaheim, but not for long as he was sent to Atlanta before the season began in a cap-crunching move. In Atlanta, Schneider was relied upon to become a pivotal role player on the Thrashers powerplay. However, the Schneider experiment failed as in 44 games the blue-liner had just 4 points on the Thrashers powerplay and was traded to Montreal days before the trading deadline. In Montreal, Schneider provided a spark to the revitalized Canadiens powerplay with 14 out of his 17 points coming on the powerplay. By season's end, Schneider was battling shoulder injuries and was useless in the Habs 4 game sweep out of the playoffs by the Boston Bruins. Even at 40, Schneider can provide a great veteran presence on a blue-line and is still a very capable weapon for any team's powerplay. His pay day will undoubtedly not be nearly as lucrative as his current 5.6 million dollar salary.

9) Niclas Havelid - Along with Schneider, Niclas Havelid found himself to be exiting Atlanta during the week of the NHL Trade Deadline. The 36 year old's 190 blocked shots put him among the Devils/Thrashers leader and with 37 takeaways he's still a very valuable defensive minded defensemen. With a 2.7 million dollar cap hit, Havelid's future with the Devils is uncertain. The Devils already have their hands full trying to hold on to goaltender Scott Clemmensen, defensive forward John Madden, defensemen Johnny Oduya and speedy winger Brian Gionta so it's entirely possible that Niclas Havelid could be seeking a new home come July.

8) Johnny Oduya - Along with Havelid, 27 year old defensemen Johnny Oduya is another Devil without a contract. In just his 3rd full NHL season, all with the Devils, Oduya is certainly developing a name for himself as a clutch defensmen. 3 of his 7 goals in the 2008-09 campaign came in the final five minutes of the game and 8 of his 22 assists came with under five minutes left in play. After two straight seasons with a +/- over 20 and when you factor in his youth Oduya is certainly a player who can fly under the radar in Newark. His current cap hit of 600,000 is nothing and will certainly get a nice pay raise, likely double his current salary whether it be from the Devils or perhaps the Calgary Flames to re-join coach Brent Sutter as the Flames are in the market for a lower tier defensemen this off-season.

7) Derek Morris - It can be said that 2008-09 was somewhat of a underachieving year for Edmonton native and 'Yotes/Rangers defensemen Derek Morris. The 30 year old's play in the desert took a hit as he struggled to post solid numbers under coach Wayne Gretzky and found himself traded to the Big Apple in a deadline deal. His decrease in powerplay points will surely hurt 1996's 13th overall draft pick in this year's market. Although Morris' numbers picked up in New York with the Rangers, how could a team be sold that Morris wouldn't throw in the proverbial towel if he signs with a team that ends up being a non-contender as he displayed in Phoenix? Morris will surely find a team to sign with and probably with ease, but I for one am doubting the notion that any team is going to offer him more than the 3.9 million dollars a year salary he currently makes or even as much.

6) Francois Beauchemin - Chances are if F.B had played in more than 20 games this year for the Anaheim Ducks he'd be higher on this list. However, due to a torn ACL Beauchemin missed the final 62 games of the Ducks regular season before returning to the line-up for Anaheim's push towards their second Stanley Cup in 3 years. In Francois' 20 regular season games, he scored 4 goals, including 2 game winning goals and tallied 1 assist. In 13 post-season games for Anaheim, Beauchemin registered 31 hits and finished with a +1, showing potential suitors that his physical game was still there even after the surgery. In all likelihood, the team that can sign Francois Beauchemin to a contract this off-season will be making one of the better choices in the sure to be wild free agency market.

5) Scott Niedermayer - The only reason he's lower on this list is because he's pretty much a lock to return to the Anaheim Ducks. How much does the captain still have left in the tank? The soon to be 36 year old blue-liner still has his scoring touch, registering 59 points in 82 games with the Ducks. With Pronger now a member of the Flyers, the load on Scott's back may have just gotten a little bit heavier.

4) Mattias Ohlund - Vancouver's alternate captain and all-time scoring leader among defensemen Mattias Ohlund is set for a new contract. The 32 year old Swede is coming off yet another strong season for the Canucks where he led the Vancouver blue-line to their second divisional title since 2006-07. Ohlund's +14 was second to Willie Mitchell (+29) for the lead on the Canucks point. Ohlund was still a premiere force on the defensive aspect of the Canucks game as he blocked over 150 shots and led the Canucks in shifts and shifts per game. There's no denying that Ohlund's services are greatly taken on any team and with the Canucks having their plate full with re-signing the Sedins, extending Luongo and looking to make a splash in the free agent market it's possible that the 2006 Olympic gold medalist will be moving to another city.

3) Rob Blake - Will age ever catch up to Rob Blake? It doesn't appear to be, for the time being. The 39 year old former King, Avalanche and now Shark had his best season since 2005-06 as he and Dan Boyle became one of the best defensive pairings in the National Hockey League. Blake's +15 was the best among Sharks defensemen and his 45 points were second only to Dan Boyle. With age, the concerns about endurance become a big issue with teams interested in the services of the 18 year NHL veteran. However, Blake's 26.8 shifts a game average and 21+ minutes of time on ice per game give teams reason to not be concerned.

2) Michael Komisarek - Loathed by Boston, loved by Montreal and an undeserving All-Star. Just a few terms and situations that can be used to describe 6'4 Habs defensemen Michael Komisarek. Whether you love his style of play or not (personally, I hate it. Eye-gouging and turtling have never been huge in my book.) fact remains that he's one of the best stay-at-home defensemen in the NHL. The rumored asking price for Komi has become one of the better laughs in the NHL as Komisarek's agent reportedly wants a 5 year contract worth atleast 35 million dollars in total. One issue for potential suitors of the 27 year old bruiser is his lack of showing up in the Canadiens first round series against the Boston Bruins, where his poor attitude was shown as he found himself ejected from Game 4 following a cowardly attack on Milan Lucic from behind after losing a fight against his arch-rival. If the Habs chose to move on from Komisarek and attempt to sign Bouwmeester, Beauchemin or Ohlund I'd expect to see Komisarek dawn the blue, orange and white and sign with the New York Islanders.

1) Jay Bouwmeester - Undoubtedly the biggest prize of the deadline and now the off-season in the market of defensemen is Florida Panthers 6'4 blue-liner Jay Bouwmeester. Following another 40+ point season in Sunrise, Florida it appears Jay-Bo is ready for his big pay day. His 20 powerplay points and upside certainly put the 25 year old at the top of every NHL GM's July 1st wish list. Despite the upside, Bouwmeester's 'disappearance' during the Panthers push to making the playoffs could be a turn-off to some teams who could view this as a sign that perhaps Jay couldn't handle the pressure and intensity of a hockey town or the playoffs. No matter how badly he performed for the last month of the season when looking at his -9 after the trading deadline, Bo's undoubtedly getting his big payday from some team out there.

Model of Inconsistency: Colin Campbell

It's safe to say NHL VP and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell has already had a busy playoffs. He's already suspended Flyers enforcer Daniel Carcillo for 1 game following his face-off punch to the head of Penguins forward Maxime Talbot. He followed this up by not suspending Flames forward Michael Cammalleri for his in my opinion, far more vicious punch to the head of Martin Havlat. Following last night's battle in Boston, Colin's work is just beginning.

Following Phil Kessel's empty net goal that secured a Bruins victory in Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal agitator Maxim Lapierre took a run at Kessel. Following a scrum in the corner of the ice (and Alex Kovalev losing his stick to a fan reaching through the glass) play resumed with just a few seconds left. The Bruins won the face off and took the puck into their own zone when Montreal "tough guys" Tom Kostopoulos and Mike Komisarek decided to take a run at Bruins players.

Kostopoulos took a run at Matt Hunwick, going for a vicious elbow attempt to the Bruins rookie's head. The attempt was soon followed by mayhem. Komisarek then went at Hunwick and looked to be going for Hunwick's eyes with his fingers (Eye poking? Really Montreal, really?), as if that wasn't enough to get you miffed, they did this of course without Zdeno Chara or Milan Lucic on the ice.

Surely as a bloody eyed Matt Hunwick left the ice you would think some repercussions would be taken against the sore sportsmanlike conduct of the Canadiens. Following Carcillo's late game punch, Campbell went on a rant about the non-toleration of "message sending" in games that were decided. How was this any different? Going at a players eye when the game is out of reach and in it's final seconds isn't Montreal's feeble attempt at sending a message to Boston?

Fact is, Montreal was frustrated. They dressed Laraque, they even put the guy on the top line and they still couldn't beat Boston. They tried playing Boston's style of play, and still lost. They're without Markov, still. In a game where the Bruins played like garbage for almost two whole periods the Habs still could not pull off the upset. So what happened? Quite simply, Montreal lost it. What's your thoughts on their actions Mr.Campbell?

"You've got to let the games unfold. You've got to let hockey be hockey, playoffs be playoffs. You've got to let the energy flow. And then, when they cross that line, you do what you have to do." a somewhat-comical Campbell said about the incident in Boston. So what will he do when that said line was crossed? Nothing.

Eye-gauging and eye-poking is nothing new to Colin Campbell. In March 2009, Campbell suspended Dallas Stars pest and Boston nemesis Steve Ott following an attempted eye gauge of Ducks forward Travis Moen. Ott's suspension was for one game. However by Campbell's standards, a bloody Hunwick leaving the ice doesn't prove to be enough to send a message to the cowards of Montreal. Colin Campbell once again proves himself as the model of inconsistency in the NHL.

Does Fighting Belong in the NHL?

As the NHL's 30 G.M's met in Naples, Florida this week many topics were brought up, but none bigger than the NHL's latest concern; fighting. Many questions regarding the future of dropping the gloves were addressed by the G.M's and brought to light. The main idea? Get rid of 'staged' fighting. Well what exactly is staged fighting?

A staged fight in the NHL is often when two players square off, often when the game is just underway and fight. Almost always it pins one teams enforcer versus the opponent's enforcer. These "fights" are often laughable as the combatants spend close to 20 seconds of dancing with one another like Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa before throwing a single punch. Some of the NHL's best enforcers such as Georges Laraque, Derek Boogard and George Parros practice this on what seems to be a nightly basis. But the question is, why fight if there's no emotion?


It's the enforcer's role to pick a fight, and well, fight. Pretty simple huh? Not really, now-a-days these enforcers are practically friends. I think I came to this realization that this was the case when I witnessed Riley Cote and Shawn Thornton give each other a pat on the back when the refs stepped between them. Here are two guys, notable rivals between each others team giving one another a post-little-league-game-like pat on the back. You're supposed to be punching the snot out of the other guys nose, not hugging him.


Another joke I found within the NHL is after seeing a video of a fight between Georges Laraque and Raitis Ivanans. This video was from Laraque's Phoenix days and what a coincidence, BGL was mic'd up. After what I'd say was a minor scrap, the replay was shown with Laraque's audio provided. He started off the conversation with Ivanans by saying "Do you want to?" after Ivanans accepted the challenge Laraque told him "Good luck" and the puck dropped. Are you kidding me? Regardless whether this guy's the 'undefeated heavyweight champ' of enforcing or not, you're wishing a guy good luck before proceeding to try and knock him unconscious? What is this, a friendly pre-season game?


Now maybe it's just me. Maybe it's the fact that my city embraced players such as Cam Neely, a guy who simply wanted to rip your head off if you ever were to drop the gloves with him. But this sort of "fighting" is trash. It's bad for the sport and it's bad for the leagues fans. They deserve better than two meatheads square-dancing with one another at center ice to start off a contest. Call me crazy, but I want real, raw emotion-driven fights. My best example I could use from the 2008-09 season? The battle at center ice between Boston Bruins toughguy Milan Lucic and Canadiens defensemen Mike Komisarek.


Here was a battle that was well over a year in the making. These two went at it with their physical play during every game of the 2007-08 regular season and continued it during the 7 game playoff showdown between the two teams. The rough stuff continued into the 08-09 season when during the Boston at Montreal game 3 weeks before, Lucic and Komisarek both received penalties for their extra-curricular activities during a stoppage of play. As both players delivered punch upon punch, a fired-up Lucic let out a yell to the sold out attendance at the Garden, capturing the energy of the fight.


The dangers of fighting were enlarged by the death of OHL player Don Sanderson. Sanderson, a 21 year old defensemen for the Whitby Dunlops died following a fight during a game. During the fight, Sanderson hit his head onto the ice surface and fell into a coma. He died later that night from complications. Sanderson's death came as a shock to many and showed just how dangerous fighting can truly be.


In my opinion, fighting does still belong in the NHL. It's been a staple in the NHL since the creation of the league and continues to this day. As the quality of most fights has gone down, by no means should it be eliminated from the game. However, I believe the goon fighting, the "let's fight for the hell of it" fighting and the down right silly fighting that are realistically two 6'1 210 pound guys dancing around and hugging needs to go.