Milan Lucic wasn’t one of those players.
Instead, Lucic stuck around Boston to work out and skate on his own, and according to the big winger, he managed to stay in shape.
“I haven’t gotten fat, I know that much,” Lucic said on Toucher and Rich. “I will say, after not playing a game since the end of April it’s tough to be in peak game shape in January like you’re used to.”
With the lockout nearing an end — and NHL teams expecting to partake in a brief training camp beginning this Sunday — Lucic and his mates have been working out together at Boston University and Ristuccia Arena all week. Although Lucic admits to knocking off some rust, he says that the team looks pretty good, overall.
“Surprisingly everyone looked good. Everyone took care of themselves as much as they could during the lockout,” he said. “We had 12 guys play overseas so that helps from a team standpoint of guys staying in shape.”
Even Nathan Horton, who has suffered two pretty severe concussions recently, has made an impression on Lucic so far.
“He’s doing great. He looked good out there,” Lucic said of Horton. “We had a little scrimmage to end [Thursday’s practice] and on our side there was only five forwards. We were huffing and puffing, but he looked good. He looks to be back on track; he’s in really good shape and I’m excited to get back out there and play with him.”
