One guy who might be feeling the slightest bit conflicted heading into tonight’s Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals is Milan Lucic. While Lucic is a young guy who has made a name for himself with the Boston Bruins through his first four seasons in the NHL, he was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. He spent his formative years playing in the WHL with the Vancouver Giants and helped form himself into a physical force that the Bruins would draft in the second round back in 2006.
If you’re thinking he might be more anxious to win the Stanley Cup because his Bruins are facing his hometown team, you’d be right. For the 6'4" 220 pound power forward, the extra motivation of playing at home for up to four games in the finals has to be inspiring. Considering what a force Lucic was when the Bruins and Canucks met up in Vancouver earlier this year, a thrilling 3-1 Bruins win that saw Lucic score a goal and add two assists, he could prove to be an X factor for the Bruins after being relatively quiet for most of the series.
CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty talked to Lucic about what it means to be back home for such a big opportunity.“It’s definitely special to just be in a Stanley Cup Final is special. But to be in my hometown just makes it that much more extra special,” said Lucic. “I played junior hockey and won a Memorial Cup here. [The Memorial Cup] probably stands out the most, winning it at home in the [Pacific] Coliseum right next to where I started skating as a little kid. I was drafted by the Bruins here. I’m definitely grateful I was selected by them. We had arguably our best win of the regular season against the Canucks. It seems like in some ways this was almost destined to happen.
“I know growing up here that the Canucks have been waiting a long time to get back into the Stanley Cup Final. I know Boston fans have been waiting for the Bruins to get back in the Final. Both cities are jacked up and excited.”
Lucic isn’t the only Bruins player with ties to Vancouver of course. Team VP Cam Neely was acquired from Boston as a player from Vancouver back in 1986 in exchange for Barry Pederson. Neely went on to score 395 goals over 13 seasons in the NHL, the latter few which were injury plagued thanks to a bad knee injury. Neely became a hero to fans in Boston through the 1980s and 1990s before retiring and landing in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Now as an iconic figure in Boston, he continues to lead as a team executive.
While Neely never won a Cup as a player, he’d sure love to do it as a suit and doing it against his hometown team (Neely’s from Comox, BC), the team that traded him away early in his career. Lucic would love to help him do that and plays a game similar enough to Neely’s to make some fans compare the two. Lucic has even gotten some hints from Neely about how to play it.
We’re sure that fans in Vancouver would be proud of the local boys doing well, but this isn’t the year they want to see them do it. If Lucic follows Neely’s advice and plays all out, they might just get to have that Stanley Cup celebration in Vancouver on their own terms.