'YOU FEEL THE LOVE'

Twenty-three minutes into Monday's practice - with nary a water break, or pause of any kind - Milan Lucic had energy to burn.
The veteran took off like a shot from a cannon, spinning his legs like a rotary phone and charging off a 2-on-1 with Andrew Mangiapane.
With a full head of steam, he peeked over his left shoulder and calculated the odds, feeding a beautiful, backhand dish across to his linemate, through the splayed out stick of the sliding defender.

Then, with the play turning back in transition, he got back on his horse and closed the gap defensively, stripping the puck away to a chorus of cheers from his teammates.
Yes, the effort is certainly paying dividends.
And it isn't going unnoticed by the passionate Flames faithful.
With another goal on Saturday, Lucic is inching closer to the team scoring lead, with his fourth in 11 games this year. To say the Big Man looks fresh, rejuvenated, and just-plain 'great' would be the understatement of the season.
He's been 'around it' since Day 1 and is having blast being a part of a winning culture again.
"The main thing for me is that I want to have fun and contribute to the team any way that I can," Lucic said. "I know what my abilities are and I know what I need to do and what I need to bring on a day-to-day basis to help this team win. That's why you prepare and use the off-season to get yourself ready to give yourself the best opportunity to contribute to the team in the best way that you can.
"The main thing is having fun doing it, having fun working hard, having fun playing the right way, having fun being physical and all that type of stuff. I've always been one of those guys where you do whatever you've got to do and sacrifice whatever you've got to sacrifice in order to win."

Analytically, Lucic has been getting it done at both ends of the ice.
He's above 50% in all the major categories, including possession, scoring chances and high-danger looks.
If not for some bad luck - with a sub-1.000 PDO (save percentage + shooting percentage, 5-on-5) - his numbers could look even better.
Still, the results are impressive.
And they speak to the winger's commitment to his craft, at a stage in his career when his role is evolving more quickly than ever.
Need proof?
Just listen to what the crowd to say on Saturday, with the always popular, bass-rumbling Loooooooch ringing out constantly at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Between that and the epic AC Milan theme song playing over the loudspeaker when he tickles the twine, it's a real party atmosphere in the old barn these days.
For a throwback player like Lucic, this is what you play for.
"It's always fun and you appreciate all their love for you as a player," Lucic said. "This year, it's not just individuals - you feel the love for the team from the fans here in Calgary, so we really enjoy that and really appreciate that. ... We need this building to be a loud building and they've done a good job of that so far.
"We had a lot of motivation coming into this year because of how things went last year, and we wanted to get that winning feel, that culture thing going again. Everything's better when you're winning. It's fun coming to the rink, food tastes better, you sleep better. Hanging out, you're smiling more, you like being around your teammates and all that type of stuff."
At this point in the season, there are countless individual milestones worth talking about.
Take, for example, the play of Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane, who share the team's goal-scoring lead with seven on the year. Or Matthew Tkachuk's bullish, between-the-legs tally against the Blueshirts. Or Jacob Markstrom, who has four (!) shutouts in nine starts - literally one-third of his career goose-eggs in a fraction of his 322 career appearances.
Or, or, or.
It's been that kind of year.
But the Lucic angle is right there, too.

It's foolish, this early, to be talking about 'pace' - but the numbers basically force us to.
The 6-foot-3, 231-lb. brute had 10 goals in 56 games last year, matching the total he scored as a member of the Oilers in 2017-18. Prior to that, he was essentially a perennial 20-goal scorer, after banging a career-high 30 with the Bruins in 2010-11.
With four already this year, it isn't a stretch to say he'll exceed last year's number by a fair margin.
Maybe he'll even get back - or close to - the 20-goal crop that made him a force in this
league.
There's a long way to go, but he's undeniably off to a great start offensively.
All four of his tallies this year have come 5-on-5. That's one more than Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl up north, and two behind league-leaders Kyle Connor and Tyler Bertuzzi in that department.
Sure, it may be early.
But little checkpoints like that early in a campaign help to instill confidence.
Most importantly, they make the game fun again.
And that, for this player, has been the modus operandi, all along.
"Having a fresh start was something that I needed," offered Lucic, who, in a candid interview onHockey Night in Canada's After Hours in 2019, said he considered hanging up the skates altogether. "I give a lot of credit to the group here, teammates and coaches and management and everyone here.
"It's fun being part of a great group, a fun group and a group that likes being around each other.
"Those are the things that makes you try a little harder and play a little harder for each other."