Milan Lucic Appreciation thread! (Mod warning post #46)

[McDoused]

I was so excited when we signed him. He is a truly unique player.

Unfortunately the game has passed him by and he has no idea what to do with the puck. Play seemed to die with him every shift.

He seemed disinterested in playing regular season games and was useless in the postseason.

Hope he fits in well in Calgary where he doesnt have to do anything but hit guys.

 

[Sugi21]

I guess.... good luck in your future endeavours Milan?

 

[NinjaKick]

I have no bad feelings towards Lucic, he seems like a good person and it wasn't his fault his contract was terrible. I hope he can find a place in Calgary.

 

[Fmrnuckfan95]

Not your fault you were overpaid, but hope Calgary sucks next year

 

[Aerchon]

Wishing Milan all the best to him and I'd like to thank him for his time on the Oilers.

Lucic's time in Edmonton has come to a close. His first season here was something special for this club. The first playoffs in a whole damn decade.

He met all expectations his first year here and was spectacular towards the end of the 2016-17 season. He didn't have a great playoff run that year but he was still a bookend of confidence for the team playing against the Sharks and Ducks. And lest we forget his postgame comments after the game 5 tying interference goal. That came after game 4's controversial call of a good goal. I don't remember anyone shouting out about those two BS goals. But I do remember Lucic did.

That season the Oilers were built to be a big tough team and they lived up to expectations and exceeded them. Milan was the absolute alpha male leading the way and it gave the club the confidence it needed for a successful year. It sure was a exciting time.

Not too keen on him heading on down the QE2 playing for our arch rivals but the deal is done and it's time to move on.

What other positive comments would we like to add? Keep classy Oilers fans, negativity can be posted in the trade thread.

View attachment 245593

Great post.

Lucic was the #1 UFA of his class and he picked the Oilers. Was very happy the search for the next Lucic was finally over. Sucks the league changed and he lost a step faster than any imagined.

Big fan, and wish him best of luck in his private life.

But.

You play for the Lames now so I hope you lose even more steps and help that team to the bottom of the standings.

 

[Rufus Aslegard]

Thanks for that good game you played against Nashville.

 

[nabob]

I'll always love this hit.

That’s likely his career highlight in three seasons as an Oiler. Hell of a hit.

 

[Darkwinter]

Great post.

Lucic was the #1 UFA of his class and he picked the Oilers. Was very happy the search for the next Lucic was finally over. Sucks the league changed and he lost a step faster than any imagined.

Big fan, and wish him best of luck in his private life.

But.

You play for the Lames now so I hope you lose even more steps and help that team to the bottom of the standings.

100% right

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

It’s too bad it didn’t work out.

It was lofty for him to fill in Halls spot, and that first year looked great. At the time, I could understand the rational of signing Lucic. You traded Hall and have Looch fill that void.

Everything went south after Xmas 2017, and nobody knows why. His ability to handle the puck just evaporated. It’s not even his speed in terms of skating: every time he touch the puck it just died.

I know people definitely were left wanting more and he became a scapegoat, rightfully so. He didn’t live up to the contract and while many predicted it would bite the Oilers, I don’t think many saw the decline only in the second year of the deal.

Off the ice, no issues. He handled it with grace and seemed like a class act. Only ill part I heard was him and Maroon hated each other.

I don’t think he’ll revolutionize the flames, especially in a bottom six, 4th line role. But I do wish Lucic the best.

 

[Aerchon]

It’s too bad it didn’t work out.

It was lofty for him to fill in Halls spot, and that first year looked great. At the time, I could understand the rational of signing Lucic. You traded Hall and have Looch fill that void.

Everything went south after Xmas 2017, and nobody knows why. His ability to handle the puck just evaporated. It’s not even his speed in terms of skating: every time he touch the puck it just died.

I know people definitely were left wanting more and he became a scapegoat, rightfully so. He didn’t live up to the contract and while many predicted it would bite the Oilers, I don’t think many saw the decline only in the second year of the deal.

Off the ice, no issues. He handled it with grace and seemed like a class act. Only ill part I heard was him and Maroon hated each other.

I don’t think he’ll revolutionize the flames, especially in a bottom six, 4th line role. But I do wish Lucic the best.

Agreed. Still wonder what happened.

He was "good" for 1.5 years and then fell off a cliff in every way. Even his ability to win a battle for a puck along the boards disappeared.

Injured?

Very steep and sudden decline.

 

[frag2]

It’s too bad it didn’t work out.

It was lofty for him to fill in Halls spot, and that first year looked great. At the time, I could understand the rational of signing Lucic. You traded Hall and have Looch fill that void.

Everything went south after Xmas 2017, and nobody knows why. His ability to handle the puck just evaporated. It’s not even his speed in terms of skating: every time he touch the puck it just died.

I know people definitely were left wanting more and he became a scapegoat, rightfully so. He didn’t live up to the contract and while many predicted it would bite the Oilers, I don’t think many saw the decline only in the second year of the deal.

Off the ice, no issues. He handled it with grace and seemed like a class act. Only ill part I heard was him and Maroon hated each other.

I don’t think he’ll revolutionize the flames, especially in a bottom six, 4th line role. But I do wish Lucic the best.

Wasnt that because Maroon was outspoken about how certain players got paid big bucks to do F all on the top 6? Like a jab at how many opportunities Lucic kept getting despite playing like shit all because he was paid 6M?

 

[JarvisFunk]

I think I appreciated the idea of Lucic more than the player himself during his time here, and still do really.

We did not get what was advertised.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

When we signed Lucic, the league simply allowed teams to pick on us.

We would get physically destroyed, which became the gameplan every team had against us. Just wreck us physically, and watch us play like scared Gazelles.

Signing Lucic signalled an end to that.

Between Lucic, Maroon, Kassian, and Nurse we played 6inches taller, and pretty much ran everyone else's show for a year.

Unfortunately for us, the league decided to change, and allow fast teams to play fast again. This unfortunate change came after we decided to emulate LA's cup wins, and after that, Lucic was done.

Lucic might become a menace once again when the league decides they'll allows his style of play, but ultimately the change in the game is what did him in.

Right now he's like Derian Hatcher post 06 lockout in Philly.

 

[the4thlinegrinder]

This is my favourite memory of Lucic as an Oiler. He came as advertised in year 1. Too bad it couldn’t last.

 

[Aceboogie]

Lucic should teach us an importantesson. The whole "team toughness" or "intimidation" stuff is pure BS. Hopefully going forward we dont get sucked into this tripe again

Never again

 

[BudBundy]

Lucic is a human being with strengths and weaknesses, virtues and flaws like everyone else. As such, I will simply say “best of luck in your future.”

 

[Del Preston]

Lucic turned down a higher AAV from Montreal to come here.

 

[oobga]

When he did come to play and seemed to have a little fire in his belly, he could be pretty entertaining. Never knew he was struggling so badly being expected to be a leader on the team.

 

[Blue Line Turnover]

Only Lucic (and perhaps close family members) knows exactly why his play fell off of a cliff; maybe there isn't an underlying problem at all.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

I appreciate that he’s gone.

Seriously though, thanks for 16/17 and running over Giordano last year. I hope he personally does well in Calgary; the couple times I met him he was very friendly and genuinely a nice guy. Mental health struggles can be very difficult to overcome.

 

[The Nuge]

Obviously the “appreciation” part is too hard to figure out. If you want to bitch about Lucic, do so in the trade thread, or we’ll just start with the threadbans

 

[PBandJ]

I respect that he chose us over more money from MTL and had a great first season. I hoped we could get 4 good seasons before he declined but something happened that changed that.

Best of luck, Looch.

 

[oobga]

Someone kindly put all of Lucic's great 18/19 season moments in 1 video.

 

[Bangers]

I appreciate what he did in his first year as an Oiler, and even after his play nose dived in his second year, I hoped it was an off year and he would recover.

Unfortunately, it didn't happen.

I would wish him the best of luck, but ... Flames. So no.

 

[RipsADrive]

I'm dreading people booing Lucic in his first game here. I really hope it doesn't happen.

As far as I'm concerned, I'm pleased that both parties finally get to move on from what has been a disaster of a decision. Too bad it's Calgary since I wanted to hope for him to get his career back on track.

I wish the best for him personally though.