Lucic On Toucher & Rich: Ready For 'Interesting' Game 1 vs. Blackhawks
BOSTON (CBS) - Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Monday, ready for his second Stanley Cup Finals in the last three years.
The Bruins are fresh off their sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the top team in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins dominated the Penguins, keeping the NHL's best offense to just two goals over four games, and Lucic said there was some extra motivation thanks to Jarome Iginla's deadline decision to head to Pittsburgh instead of Boston.
"A lot of teams would have taken it the same way, so it was just one of those things," said Lucic. "I'm sure it annoyed you guys too. No one likes to be stood up in any way at any time. It's just one of those things, and I think it did add a bit of motivation."
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While the Bruins had that extra motivation for the Eastern Conference Finals, they've been a confident bunch since their miraculous Game 7 comeback against the Totonto Maple Leafs in the first round. Lucic said that win was what really got his team going this postseason -- and their 8-1 record since proves it.
"It put confidence in us; it doesn't matter what the situation is, we can get ourselves out of it and just the belief in one another and the belief in yourself that if you put your mind to it you can get the job done," he said of the Game 7 victory. "We overcame a big hurdle and everything we went through in that craziness of Game 7. It's gotten us rolling. The job isn't done yet; there are still four big wins ahead of us and hopefully we can get the job done against the most consistent, best team of this year."
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The Bruins now face the Chicago Blackhawks in an original six matchup for the Stanley Cup. The Bruins and Blackhawks haven't met since the 2011 season, but the B's are aware how good Chicago has been this season.
"They have a lot of great offensive players with (Patrick) Kane and (Jonathan) Toews and (Patrick) Sharp and (Marian) Hossa, guys that have been close to 40-goal-scorers in their career. They also have a real great defensive core that showed they can win hockey games and win big hockey games," said Lucic. "They have a great power play and penalty kill, and their goalie, if you look at his numbers, has been great all year. They're a team that is well-rounded and showed consistency in their lineup since the first game of the season. Going up against a team we haven't played – you can watch a team as much as you want but until you play them you don't really know what to expect. It will be an interesting Game 1."
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Milan Lucic On Toucher & Rich
Tune in to every game of the Stanley Cup Finals on 98.5 The Sports Hub -- the flagship station of the Boston Bruins. Pregame coverage begins 30 minutes prior to every game!
