BOSTON – Milan Lucic remembers well his first preseason game.
The hulking winger was just 19 years old and riding on a line with veteran pugilist Shawn Thornton as the Bruins visited St. John’s, Newfoundland for an exhibition tilt in September 2007.
“I remember being really nervous…was one of those things, obviously, you always remember,” said Lucic. “But it ended up being good, my linemate was Shawn Thornton, he did a good job, especially my first year – just calming me down and talking me through things and stuff like that.”
Now 35 and entering his 17th season in the National Hockey League, Lucic has been through his share of preseason contests. But when he hits the ice on Tuesday night in Buffalo, he admitted that pulling on that Spoked-B again after an eight-year hiatus will likely bring out the emotions.
“I guess a little bit of the same feeling here, little butterflies and all of that type of stuff,” said Lucic. “Just being here every day, I guess, helps you move on from the ‘I’m back’ type of phase…it’s the first time actually putting the jersey on and getting into some action. Once you get into the everyday action of it, you can get over that and into the right mindset…every day that goes on it feels more normal and over that phase.”
Like Thornton all those years ago, it’s now Lucic acting as one of the calming, veteran voice in the Bruins dressing room, especially with a large chunk of youngsters on the roster against the Sabres.
“I had a really good experience at the World Championships [back in the spring] kind of being the older guy and having to take on a leadership role, so I guess I got a lot of good prep there and it ended up being a really great experience, great tournament because we won the gold and all that type of stuff,” said Lucic.
“But it was a really good learning curve for myself and try to apply what I learned from that experience into this season.”
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said he has already noticed how much Lucic seems to be embracing a leadership role around the rink.
“The thing that stood out is that he’s really relishing the leadership role and mentorship role, which has been great, his attitude has been fantastic,” said Montgomery. “And then on the ice he’s making plays…his ability to make plays in small areas has been very noticeable to me. And I think that he’s going to have success with the way we want to play.”
