The criticized Milan Lucic went to the World Cup with only one thing in mind. The coach praised the NHL veteran.
Milan Lucica veteran of 1,173 NHL regular season games and a Stanley Cup winner, amazingly played his first games for Canada at the World Cup that ended on Sunday.
The decision to participate in the World Cup was a good one, because Lucic is now also a World Cup gold medalist. The Canadian, who earned more than 72 million dollars in his career, had himself contacted the Canadian Hockey Association after the end of the NHL season and asked if there would be a place for him on the team.
– This was the only reason why I came here, Lucic said with the gold medal around his neck.
– I am grateful that the general manager By Doug Armstrong there was a place for me in the team. I wanted to come here and do what I could to carry my cards in the pile. It’s been a long month, but it’s worth it now.
Milan Lucic wanted to win one more time. He succeeded in that. PASI LEISMA
12 family members
Canada’s head coach André Tourigny said that he saw the fire of winning in Lucic’s eyes.
– The guy who has played so much and won the Stanley Cup, comes here and wants to win. Everything he did was about winning. On the bench, he made sure that we didn’t just go out to win the scoring race. We played really well defensively in this tournament, Tourigny said.
Lucic said bluntly that nothing compares to the Stanley Cup, but the world championship still tasted good.
– My wife, children, mother and other family members were here. I had probably 12 people here celebrating this with me. It means a lot to me. I am grateful to have been a part of this group.
The gold seemed to taste good, as the 34-year-old power forward excitedly took selfies with the medal in his mouth in the Nokia Arena.
Will the NHL career continue?
Lucic is no longer a star player in the NHL. The man played 77 games for the Calgary Flames this season, where he scored 19 points. In his most efficient season with the Boston Bruins in the 2010–11 season, he scored 62 points in 79 games.
Lucic has been called one of the most overpaid players in the NHL, but his seven-year deal ended this season.
It is clear that Lucic has to make compromises if he wants to continue in the NHL.
– I talked about it (the continuation of my career) a couple of days ago. For the next month I will be thinking about what the next step is and what is the best option for me. Now the most important thing is to enjoy the victory.
According to Lucic, he has gone through many options in his mind, but did not say in more detail what they are.
– In the next couple of weeks, I will go through them again and see what suits me best.