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Lucic admits Bruins haven’t forgotten history with Cooke

Patrice Bergeron, Marc Savard

Boston Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron, top, talks to teammate Marc Savard as he is taken from the ice on a stretcher in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Sunday, March 7, 2010. Savard was carried off the ice with a concussion after being leveled by Pittsburgh forward Matt Cooke’s blindside hit with 5:37 remaining in Sunday’s game. The Penguins won 2-1. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Many of the Boston Bruins players were teammates with Marc Savard when Matt Cooke’s controversial hit basically ended his career. Milan Lucic told CSNNE.com that they haven’t forgotten that moment, but they don’t intend to jeopardize their chances to win against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the name of revenge.

“It’s an interesting question because if it wasn’t for that [Cooke hit], where would Marc Savard be today? He’d still be under contract with us, and would be on our team,” Lucic said. “I still talk to [Savard] and keep in touch with him. He was a good friend of mine when he was on the team.

“It’s still in the back of your mind, but it’s not the focal point when you’re getting ready to play in this kind of a series.”

(Note: Savard is technically still under contract until the 2016-17 season ends, although he’s almost certain to remain on the LTIR.)

Head coach Claude Julien equates the situation to maintaining discipline in regard to Jarome Iginla’s decision to snub the team and join the Penguins instead.

“It depends what you mean by that,” Julien said. “Are you talking about the [Marc] Savard thing? Or are you talking about the way Matt Cooke plays? There are different ways of answering that. At one point, you’ve got to move on from certain things. Just like the next question will be like Iginla. Stuff like that. We all know about that. The thing we have to focus on is finding a way to win the series.

“If you just want revenge on this guy or that guy . . . is it really the right focus to have? The best way to get that satisfaction is by winning a series. So I think that’s where your focus has to be.”