Lucic: 'We Want To Win Again, Not Just Defend' Stanley Cup
BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston Bruins are ready to put up their Stanley Cup banner Thursday night, but after that the mission is clear: win another championship.
The Bruins will start their 2011-12 campaign the defending champs, but instead of having the mindset of defending their crown, they see it as going out and winning another one.
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"We need to embrace that struggle and we need to have fun with that challenge," said forward Milan Lucic on a possible repeat. "We need to go out with that mindset that we want to win it again, not just defend it."
"Let's not pretend there is no emotion to raising the banner and reliving what happened. This will be the final final step of what we need to do as a team, as soon as that banner raising ceremony is over we need to turn the page for good, and it's got to be done quickly," said head coach Claude Julien.
Julien Turning The Page
"We as a team have a job to do, and that's to start all over again," Julien added. "We need to turn the page, that's part of our job and that's part of being professionals."
"We have to be as hungry as we were last year to win it again… That's the right attitude to have heading into the season," said Lucic. "There's the process and all the adversity you have to go through at the start of a season."
Lucic On Repeating, Opening Night
Of course, while the banner is slowly making its way up to the rafters, the Bruins will be soaking it all in.
"There's a lot of emotions; you start thinking about the process of what got you got here," Lucic said. "Not just the memorable playoff run, but the process of what it took to make the NHL and build this team."
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"You start thinking about that and everything that we went through, and we want to do everything to keep that tradition alive," the Bruins forward said. "Getting a chance to celebrate like we are tonight, there's no better feeling."
And once the ceremony is over, the puck will drop and hockey will be back.
"I'm looking forward to it," said center David Krejci. "It was a short summer, but even though it was short I still missed hockey. Once you don't skate for a couple of months you're excited to get back in games."
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"No matter what year it is, you're always looking forward to that puck dropping for the first game," said Lucic." You're always excited for the new season. It's a clean slate, everything starts at zero again and that's part of what makes this game so fun."
