Lucic Back Where it All Began

BOSTON - Milan Lucic just couldn't wait.

With all of his old Bruins gear packed away at his home in Vancouver, Lucic needed something Black & Gold to don on Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles.

So, with his new contract to return to Boston about to become official, he ventured out to grab a flat brim cap with the Spoked-B emblazoned across the front, as well as some Bruins shirts for his three children.

He was so excited with the new purchase that when free agency opened just after noon, he fired off a photo of himself in the hat to Bruins general manager Don Sweeney.

"Well, I mean there's been a little bit of social buzz out there about Looch. Some of it has certainly been driven from Looch," Sweeney said with a chuckle when asked about the recent online speculation hinting at a Lucic return. "At 12:01, he sent me a picture of himself in a Bruins hat that he honestly went to the store and bought himself…so, that just says a lot about where his mind is at in coming back home. I think when he steps back on the ice everybody in the building will feel a little bit of a buzz."

The buzz had already begun upon the announcement around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday when the Bruins made it official: the 2011 Stanley Cup champion would be returning to the city where he spent the first 10 seasons of his NHL career on a one-year contract worth $1 million plus $500,000 in performance bonuses.

"I had permission to talk to teams early and Don reached out about two weeks ago when it first happened, Sweens called me and said he was interested in having me back," said Lucic. "He asked me if I had any interest in coming back and, obviously, it's a place that's close and dear to my heart. Having the opportunity to come back, you can see the smile on my face right now. It feels like I'm going home.

"It's always felt like I've been a Bruin, and I'm just so happy and thankful for the opportunity to be a Bruin again."

Lucic acknowledged that he's been thinking about one day returning to the Black & Gold, really, since the day he left. In the summer of 2015, Lucic was shipped to Los Angeles at the NHL Draft in exchange for defenseman Colin Miller, goalie Martin Jones, and a 2015 first-round pick. After a year with the Kings, Lucic signed a seven-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers, for whom he played three seasons before being traded to Calgary where he suited up for the last four years.

And throughout that time, the Vancouver native always wondered what it would be like to be back in the Spoked-B.

"I'm looking forward to it really badly because I've thought about this moment for the last seven years," said Lucic, who noted that he's kept close tabs on the Bruins over the years and has remained a fan of the Patriots, Red Sox, and Celtics.

"I've been thinking about what it would be like to put on the Spoked-B, Black and Gold again. That's why I'm so grateful for this opportunity. When you start somewhere, I don't want to say I took it for granted, because you guys all know me…I lived it and I truly did appreciate what it meant to be a Boston Bruin and living in Boston and playing for an Original Six team and playing in front of those fans every single night.

"It's almost like I'm more grateful for it now than I was at the beginning because as time goes on, sometimes you don't know how good things are until it's gone."

Sweeney noted that trading Lucic eight years ago this week was among the hardest decisions he's had to make in his time as Boston's general manager, while saying that he was well aware of how unpopular the move was at the time.

"When I think back, I had to have a flak jacket and a helmet on walking around Boston on some of those decisions," Sweeney quipped. "They weren't popular, they weren't fun, they weren't something I wanted to do…we just made a really hard decision. It was one of the hardest ones I've ever made as a general manager, and it was early on…I was grateful to be able to bring him back and allow him to have the impact that he wants to have, and we're excited about it.

"Looch loves the game, loves Boston, he's never indicated anything other than that. He knows it was more of a business decision…Looch is just a solid person…really happy for him and his family to have this opportunity again."

Lucic, whose two daughters were born in Boston, is looking forward to being able to fully share the Bruins experience with his family this time around.

"A lot of players don't get to have that opportunity again like I get to have," said Lucic. "Not only that, not only for myself and the fans and the city, but I get to do this in front of my kids. My two girls were born in Boston, but they were 2 and newborn when I got traded. Now they're 10, 8, and 5.

"For me to wear the Spoked-B in front of my children just adds to it all. To get to do this in front of the fans again, it's going to mean so much, so right now I can't wait for October 11 when the first game happens in Boston."

That passion is what has defined Lucic across his 16-year NHL career and what has carried him through toward this decision. With his eyes set on making an impact, for whichever team he ended up signing with, in 2023-24, Lucic opted to skate with Team Canada at the World Championships this spring and helped secure a gold medal.

"He went to the World Championships with the full intention of telling everyone how much he loves hockey, how much he continues to want to play hockey, and this is where he wanted to play," said Sweeney. "And I just feel like bringing Looch back to Boston was the right thing to do for all those reasons. He feels like he has a lot of juice left and we feel he can provide a real jolt of both enthusiasm and bite to our lineup, he can help guys like [Trent Frederic] and [Jakub Lauko]…

"He can probably create a little bit of space if somebody is breathing down [David Pastrnak's] neck, so it's a thing we've missed and in a perfect world he never would have left, but those decisions were made and now we bring him back home and we're happy about it."

Lucic knows - and accepts - that he will not be in nearly the same role that he was in for much of his first tenure with Boston when he was the club's top-line left winger alongside David Krejci and Nathan Horton as he helped guide the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup title in 39 years.

"I understand that I'm going to be playing in a different role, in a new role," said Lucic. "But at the end of the day, my mindset is still the same as to what I'm trying to achieve, and that's to win a championship. That was the main reason why I reached out and wanted to play for Team Canada in the World Championship, it's because I wanted to win something again.

"And I'm so grateful I had the opportunity and got to win that gold medal in Finland this past May. That's something I obviously want to experience again in the NHL. No better place to do it than in Boston if we can achieve that."

Lucic said he has already spoken with former teammates Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, and has a good relationship with Derek Forbort, who he played with in both Los Angeles and Calgary, as well as Charlie McAvoy, who he met at Tuukka Rask's wedding last summer. He also spoke with fellow veterans James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Shattenkirk, both of whom inked one-year contracts of their own with Boston on Saturday.

"We're all excited to all be together wearing the Black and Gold," said Lucic. "I'm just so happy to be back. I feel like I'm coming home, and by no means is this just a reunion for a farewell tour. I'm coming back for the right reasons. I think I'm coming back to help this team continue to progress and chase a championship. I'm really confident in my abilities to help this team do that."

Ultimately, Lucic said, it will fall on coach Jim Montgomery to decide where he fits best on the ice, but that he is eager to grab hold of a leadership role in the dressing room, something that was left to the likes of Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Mark Recchi, Shawn Thornton, and Andrew Ference a decade ago.

"I've been through a lot and I can help with a leadership role and help with the young guys," said Lucic. "But also, just bringing it every day, bringing it in practice, bringing it in games and all that type of stuff. That's something I haven't lost, I have that fire every day, the competitiveness, whether it's practice or games, just bringing it every day, bringing it in the gym, all that type of stuff.

"Those are the things that are required of me to bring on a day-to-day basis, and I'm looking forward to that."

Having won a Stanley Cup so early in his career and come close to a second two years later, Lucic has always been well versed in what it takes to achieve that level of success.

"You always try to chase a championship and you always want to win," said Lucic. "For me, that's the main reason for playing. I was lucky and fortunate enough to experience that early in my career and experience that as a Boston Bruin, which is such a special thing.

"As time goes on, things change, roles change, you change as a player and a person. That's the thing, I'm not the same player and person I was 10 years ago."

One thing, however, has not changed: he's always felt like a Bostonian.

"We just bonded from the get-go," Lucic said of his connection to the city and fan base. "I was a 19-year-old kid who moved away from home. It wasn't like I was a quick flight away, I went from the Pacific all the way across to the Atlantic. I was across the country. I kind of had to learn how to be a Bostonian right off the get-go.

"It was a match made in heaven, where my style of play kind of fit the Big Bad Bruins identity and all that type of stuff. It just fit the attitude and the identity of the city of Boston. When I was younger, I used to just walk around the city and meet people and talk to people. I've always been someone who's very personable and shared a lot of good times with fans.

"I'm really looking forward to that first game at home in Boston at the Garden. I know it's going to be rocking and I can't wait for things to get going."