Lucic Injured, Lefebvre Called Up

Tonight, the Phoenix Coyotes will host the Boston Bruins at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona, but a key cog in the Bruins roster will not be active for tonight’s game.

Milan Lucic, who’s coming off a five-hit performance less than 24 hours ago, will be sidelined for tonight’s game and possibly more with a currently undisclosed injury.

In typical Boston Bruins fashion, the injury remains undisclosed, leading me to believe that they’d give us GM Peter Chiarelli’s personal cell phone number before telling us above a top six forward’s injury. Regardless of the info, or lack of, the question remains; Just how did Milan Lucic suffer this injury we know little to nothing about?

It’s very possible that Lucic’s physical play last night could’ve banged him up, as he seemed to have an extra giddy-up (they were playing in Texas, so that’s acceptable for this post) in his physicality. Whatever the injury may be, the Bruins have called up forward Guillaume Lefebvre up from the Providence Bruins on an emergency basis.

Essentially when examining the call-up of the 28-year-old forward from Quebec, the Bruins are replacing one menacing force with another.

Lefebvre, who spent all of the 2008-09 season with the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League, tallying 206 penalty minutes along with 13 points in 70 games, has already made his mark in the Providence penalty box. Just four games into the AHL season, Lefebvre’s totaled 25 minutes in the sin bin and is expected to be in the line-up tonight for the Boston Bruins.

This likely means that Byron Bitz is getting moved up to the third line while Recchi moves up one, or that Lefebvre will be a direct substitution for Lucic on the second line. However, the latter of these plans seems unlikely as in short, Lefebvre’s there for his physical play, not his offensive skills.

Tonight will mark Guillaume’s first game in the National Hockey League since February 4th, 2006 when he was with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Word from John Bishop via the Bruins official Twitter acount is that Lefebvre will wear number 92 tonight for the black and gold.

If you haven’t already, follow me on Twitter!

Ty

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.