He played in all 13 playoff games, finishing with nine points and a plus-1 rating, but was it the real Lucic?
He gutted it out for 50 regular-season games, yet throughout the whole season, fans in Boston couldn't help but feel that they weren't seeing the complete version of Milan Lucic. And they weren't.
Lucic never had a chance to resume his position as the biggest and baddest Bruin on the ice, thanks to a broken finger in October and a severely sprained ankle in November. Lucic came back as fast as he could to a team beset with injuries, and for that, he's yet to be given enough credit. Still, he was clearly not operating at a level even close to 100 percent.
That may have been bad news last season, but it's nothing but good news for the upcoming campaign.
Based on the '09-10 Lucic, it's almost easy to forget just how much of a force No. 17 was becoming. By the end of the 2009 playoffs, Lucic had taken major strides in adding some scoring touch to his physically imposing style of play, capping off the season with 17 goals, 25 assists, a plus-17 rating and, for good measure, 136 penalty minutes. Those numbers dropped significantly last year (9-11-20, minus-7 rating) because of the injuries, but by the time preseason begins, Lucic should be back to being Lucic.
That fact on its own will be a major boost for the Bruins during the madness that is the free-agency period. In getting back a healthy Lucic, the B's will be adding a player whom they essentially did not have for much of last year. They'll be adding a guy who can swing the momentum of a game in a matter of 20 seconds (just ask Mike Komisarek), a guy who can turn one of the game's tougher players into a bloody mess (sorry, Chris Neil), a guy who authored the most memorable shift in junior hockey history (even if he did have blond highlights in his hair).
Want to get Bruins fans excited for next season? Have them watch those three videos in succession.
Sure, there's plenty of cause for excitement over the addition of Tyler Seguin. It's fun to draw up some lines to see where Nathan Horton fits in, check out the organizational depth at forward thanks to this year's draft and get lost amid the flurry of trade rumors. It'd be easy to overlook the fact that Lucic, fresh off his 22nd birthday, could very well be among the most important players to throw a B's sweater over his head next winter. Easy, of course, if you're not suiting up for the opposing team.
Because of the two serious injuries last year, it's been a long while since the fine fans of the TD Garden have been witnesses to the "devastating machine" that Lucic was quickly becoming. Chances are that this season, it won't take long for him to return.
