'I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT HIM'

Thinking back, a few come to mind.
The moments in a game, a season, or in this case, a playoff series, where the big man stepped up and delivered his best when opportunity called.
"I can't say enough about Milan Lucic and what he brings to our locker-room," interim head coach Geoff Ward said of his long-time pupil following a series-clinching Game 4 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.
High praise, but heartily earned with what he displayed Thursday.

In a relationship that spans more than a decade, Ward has long been privy to the Lucic Effect.
How he can dominate games, instill fear in his foes and leave it all on the ice, and get right back at it the very next day.
But this - this - was a game that meant so much in the grand scheme. The Flames, looking to exercise a few demons and put last year's playoff disappointment officially to rest. Individuals, marred by that "embarrassment," looking to atone, also.
For Lucic, this, too, was a crack at redemption after a couple of years out of the dance.
He wanted to prove he could still be the big-game player that helped lead the Boston Bruins to a Stanley Cup in 2011.
Nine years on, he couldn't possibly have done more.
"He's experienced every situation you could possibly experience in the playoffs," Ward said. "He's a calming influence, he's great in the room, and of course, tonight, he sets the tone with that fight off the draw."

Lucic has a feel for those types of moments. He understood that Winnipeg defenceman Nathan Beaulieu was trying to spark a team on the brink of hub-city eviction.
But sensing his own club could use a lift early to help quell the nerves of an elimination game, he happily obliged.
"I was lining up for the draw and he came up and asked, and I said, 'Effin' rights, let's go,'" Lucic laughed. "He's trying to show they're ready to play and they're not going down without a fight. But for me, you just want to show you're ready to play, too, and are not going to back down from their push, whether that's a fight or whatever."
Lucic easily won the scrap.
Then, the fight.
It was one of his finest nights in a Flames uniform, scoring an assist to go along with three shots, three hits and two quality scoring chances. In all, he enters the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as Calgary's second-leading scorer, with one goal and three apples - one point shy of the team's top point-getter, Sean Monahan.
"We understood (as a line) what was at stake here and the opportunity that we had," Lucic said, deferring much of the praise to his bearded 'mates, Dillon Dube and Sam Bennett. "All three of us played well and we've got to keep that up if we're going to keep having success as a line and as a team."

They say names are made in the playoffs.
Beginning with 'The Shift' in the 2007 Memorial Cup, the Stanley Cup five years later, and all the great moments that have happened in the post-season since, Lucic has certainly taken that to heart over the years.
On Thursday, he was moving the puck, making plays, pounding the pavement and doing everything possible to impose his will on the game and steadily squeeze the life out of his opponent.
He looks rejuvenated.
Reborn.
Ready for another crack at Lord Stanley.
"I've seen points where he's become that emotional leader for you and can put a team on his back," Ward said, echoing a sentiment from the beginning of the season, when he pointed to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal in 2013.

Another 'moment.'
That night, the Bruins famously rallied from a 4-1, third-period deficit to send the Toronto Maple Leafs packing.
Lucic, of course, figured prominently, scoring once and adding an assist as part of the delirious, late-game comeback.
While the stakes weren't nearly as high on Thursday, it was a massive showing all the same and drew similar vibes to his past, playoff success.
"Tonight, he said, 'Here we go. You guys can follow me.' And we did," Ward said. "I thought after that first couple seconds with that fight, it settled our guys in and I thought our guys got a big lift from it."
The true measure of an impact player isn't always recorded in goals and points. And while the big man is heating up and has begun to bring that more consistently, it's the culture - the intangibles - behind closed doors that have made the largest impact here in Calgary.
Lucic has been at the forefront of creating a positive environment for players, young and old, to blossom with this group.
His teammates are comfortable, confident in their own skin, brought closer together by a man who's been through it all and has made it his life's mission to be that galvanizing presence among those he calls brothers.
He might not wear a letter but his leadership has helped the Flames advance for the first time since 2015.
"I've seen it time and time again with him," Ward said. "When you need a big moment, he finds a way to supply a big moment.
"Tonight, he found a way to supply a big moment and we followed right behind him."