BOSTON – Milan Lucic has never shied away from expressing his admiration for the Spoked-B. Even during his eight-year hiatus, the hulking winger always made sure that his appreciation for Boston and his time in a Bruins uniform was well known.
So, as the club commenced its Centennial on Wednesday night with a stirring pregame ceremony, during which all of the Bruins’ living retired numbers – as well as a bevy of former Stanley Cup champs – participated, he couldn’t help but soak it all in.
“It was great. Obviously, I was really looking forward to it, so it was a real special moment for me. To be honest, I was just soaking it all in like a fan. I was on the bench going, ‘this is really cool to be a part of and a real special moment for hockey history,’” Lucic said following the Bruins’ 3-1 Opening Night win over the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden.
“To see all of the legends that are here, former teammates, and to be part of the whole ceremony here tonight was something special to be a part of. It just adds to being back in Boston.”
Then, of course, it was Lucic’s turn to get his due.
As No. 17 was announced during pregame introductions, the TD Garden crowd erupted into a thunderous “Looooooocchhhh” chant as he skated to the blue line, where he tapped his heart and waved to the fans, the emotion in his face evident.
“It’s a special time in your life, those years that I spent here, so to be able to come back that is so special to me, it’s good to have emotion and show emotion,” said Lucic.
That emotion clearly carried over once the game began, as Lucic put forth one of the best performances of the night, while picking up an assist on David Pastrnak’s eventual game-winning tally when he delivered a backhand feed over to his longtime friend, who finished off a 2-on-1 with a far-side wrister by the glove of Chicago goalie Arvid Soderblom at 13:09 of the second to give Boston a 2-1 lead.
“He's had a really good camp and he's carried it over,” said Bruins coach Jim Montgomery. “He came here in tremendous shape. Not only what you guys see on the ice, but the way he's talking on the bench. He's taken over a real important leadership role of talking about how to build our team game, about the important details.
“He was saying, last two minutes of the first, ‘you got to get pucks in, get pucks out.’ And it's just good reminders and it means more to the teammates when it comes from a player.”