Once again, Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic lost his cool while suffering a defeat against the Montreal Canadiens, with Thursday’s meltdown involving an obscene gesture toward Habs fans that resulted in penalties and a $5K fine for the winger. Two days later, Lucic apologized to Bruins and Canadiens fans alike while holding out hope that he can learn how to keep his emotions in check.
“It was a selfish act,” Lucic said, according to CSNNE.com’s Joe Haggerty. “I think it takes away from all the positives from the game. I’m obviously not proud of what I did there”
“I know [the Canadiens fans] can get under your skin sometimes, but they are great fans. They are what make the games fun.”
Bruins head coach Claude Julien mostly went to bat for the 26-year-old, as Haggerty notes:
Julien on Lucic: "His emotions sometimes get the better of him. To his defense, I think penalty was really tough call we dont agree [with]"
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) October 18, 2014
Julien: "Thing w/Milan is having ability to control emotions so it doesnt hurt the gm, doesnt hurt the fans & [doesnt] hurt our hockey club"
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) October 18, 2014
Here’s video of Lucic’s outburst, in case you missed it:
The Bruins head to Montreal on Nov. 13, so we’ll only need to wait a month to see if Lucic can go to his happy place amid all of that Habs heckling.