Keeping Milan Lucic Ensures More Old-Time Hockey in Hub

by

Oct 7, 2009

Keeping Milan Lucic Ensures More Old-Time Hockey in Hub If you liked what you saw on Saturday night when the Bruins faced off against the Carolina Hurricanes, then sit tight.

The B's ensured on Tuesday that there will be many more years of gritty, physical, tough Boston Bruins hockey to come when general manager Peter Chiarelli announced that the club had signed forward Milan Lucic to a three-year contract extension through the 2012-13 NHL season.

Last winter, I sat next to "Looch" at a charity dinner at Ray Bourque's restaurant Tresca in the North End. When the meal came out, a huge plate of osso buco went down on the table in front of Lucic. He told me I made a mistake in ordering the fish, and said that the osso buco is his favorite dish on the impressive Tresca menu. Obviously! The kid is 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, according to the team's media guide, but I bet he's more like 230, or at least he plays that way. I told him to enjoy his meaty meal. He could afford to eat it.

And the Bruins can afford to keep their top-line winger, who re-upped for a reported three years and $12.25 million. The on-ice presence that Lucic brings — not to mention his style of play — is exactly what old-school Hub hockey fans have been wishing for. And it's the style of play that opponents fear. Lucic's size and physicality create more room for linemates Marc Savard and Marco Sturm to work with. The opposing players don't want to go anywhere near Lucic when he's on the ice. Just ask Jay Harrison. Or Mike Komisarek. Or any other player in the league who cannot handle number No. 17's KO.

From a fan perspective, this signing is the best thing to happen to the B's in a while. You're ensuring that a player who already demonstrates poise and toughness is going to be here for a long time. And from an organizational perspective, you've locked up another player who exemplifies the "Bruin Way" that Chiarelli has been preaching to his pupils. And from a broadcasting perspective, it couldn't be better.

And if you're Ray Bourque, it's time to tell the staff at Tresca to start cooking up some more osso buco.

Previous Article

Personal History Takes a Backseat as Patriots Prepare to Take on Josh McDaniels

Next Article

Torii Hunter the Spark Plug for Angels in Postseason

Picked For You