Ex- Bruins forward Milan Lucic thanked fans of his in Boston on Friday with a full-page ad in the Boston Globe. – It nearly seems too soon to think of Milan Lucic as a former Boston Bruin, but the hard-nosed left wing is fitting in at his new home.
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Lucic sent out this tweet shortly after he discovered that he had been traded to the Los Angeles Kings.
“I expected the unexpected”.
But even though he did hear the rumors, Lucic said he was surprised to find out that L.A. was his landing spot. “Without me, they’re still one of the top five teams in the league”.
Kings president Luc Robitaille and assistant general manager Rob Blake welcomed Lucic to the two-time Stanley Cup champion franchise, presenting him with the black jersey he will wear in the fall.
Instead, the Kings acquired the Vancouver native last month by dealing away goalie Martin Jones, defenseman Colin Miller and the 13th-overall draft pick.
“I guess I kind of took it for granted playing with such a great player like that”, Lucic said. “But when it happened I was more than thrilled”.
And the teams will have the same hard-hitting, high-energy Lucic, who was officially introduced to the media Saturday as a member of the Kings. The Kings have finished in the middle of the pack when it comes to penalty minutes and fights in the last few years, but Lucic said that style of play is essential to his game.
The Kings mounted a meek defense of their 2014 Stanley Cup title, eliminated from playoff contention in the last week of the season because of inconsistent scoring and an inability to protect leads late in games. He will likely be tried on a line with Kopitar and right wing Marian Gaborik. “I just want to do whatever I can to help”.
Astrology aside, signs point to Los Angeles as the ideal fit for Lucic, a place where he can reboot his career and bring his nasty element to the Western Conference.
“I’m a Gemini, so I got that split personality where you got that short fuse”, Lucic said. Boston will always be a key part of who I am.
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I want to thank the entire Jacobs family, Cam Neely, Peter Chiarelli, Don Sweeney, Scott Bradley and the rest of the Bruins management team; coaches Claude Julien, Geoff Ward, Doug Houda, Doug Jarvis, Craig Ramsey [sic] and Joe Sacco; captain Zdeno Chara and the rest of my teammates; the medical staff, trainers and strength coaches who kept me going; and of course, all the fans and my friends. I play with that mean streak.
