Milan Lucic is through with even trying to defend his hometown.
The Bruins winger claims he was the victim of an unprovoked attack in his hometown of Vancouver on Saturday night just hours after the Bruins fell to the Canucks. Video of the confrontation went viral late Sunday night and into Monday morning. The video doesn’t show the attack, but Lucic alleged Monday morning that he was attacked and punched in the face.
“It’s something that happened late Saturday night and it’s something I’m not proud of, but it was part of an unprovoked attack,” Lucic told reporters Monday after practice, according to The Boston Globe. “I was punched in the face on two separate occasions. From this point forward, I’m just exploring to pursue this in a legal manner. I was the victim of the attack. I did not engage in the attack. I showed restraint by not retaliating in a physical manner. There was no reason for him to punch me but he did and that’s all I can really say right now.”
This isn’t the first time Lucic has had issues in Vancouver or with the city’s people. His family was harassed by Canucks fans in Vancouver during the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. In February following the Cup Final which the Bruins won in seven games, Lucic’s church in Vancouver was vandalized with graffiti.
This “unprovoked attack,” Lucic says, is the last straw.
“Now it’s escalated to a point where I get attacked for just minding my own business,” Lucic said, according to the Globe. “I have no reason left to defend my city and the people of my city. I’m just disgusted and outraged that it had to come to something like that. As far as that goes, other than being at Rogers Arena, no one will ever see me in downtown Vancouver ever again.”
Lucic also took responsibility for being out after the game, saying he was just trying to “blow off steam” at the end of a four-game road trip.
