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Boston Bruins’ Milan Lucic Becoming the Type of Player Teams Seek


Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

If there’s anything Boston Bruins winger Milan Lucic is known best for, it’s putting fear in the hearts of his opponents.

The 6-foot-4 220 pound forward is quite a monster on the ice, throwing his body around with reckless abandon. Of course, there are times when he may be off his game a bit. When he’s locked in, however, it’s not rare to see players around the league run and hide whenever he jumps on ice for a shift.

It’s this physical style of play that also generates his scoring ability. With players second guessing their next move in his vicinity, he’s more than willing to knock someone off the puck, creating a chance for a teammate or sometimes cashing in with his own heavy shot.

Recently, more than a few NHL GMs have been seeking a player like Lucic to call their own. They either toughen up their teams with veteran pugilists or begin seeking their own Lucic.

Examples of the former include when, last offseason, the Buffalo Sabres dealt longtime forward Derek Roy to the Dallas Stars for Steve Ott in order to add some grit to their team. Likewise, the Montreal Canadiens brought in Brandon Prust to make sure Lucic wouldn’t push anyone around at the Bell Centre.

However, according to an article from The Province, Vancouver Canucks fans are already wondering if Zack Kassian is the “Lucic type.”

In the article, Lucic was asked about this new trend of teams searching for a player like him. Long story short, he’s taking it in stride.

“I just laugh and smile,” Lucic said Wednesday.

“I think it’s pretty cool and pretty unique. End of the day, it doesn’t matter. Your goal is to be the best you can be.”

Helping cement that lesson is the fact he learned it while meeting with Bruins legend Ray Bourque. Safe to say he knows a few things about how to approach the game.

So, despite the fact that Lucic has become the blueprint for the kind of player teams seem to want these days, he won’t be changing his playing style any time soon.

Which, of course, is really bad news for the rest of the league.

Casey Drottar is an NHL writer for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @CDrottar19 or “Like” him on Facebook



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