Lucic still gets chirped by Canucks fans claiming Bruins cheated in 2011 Finals
Here’s a little something to put time into perspective.
Potential Vancouver Canucks draft pick later this month, Caleb Malhotra, had just turned three years old when his father, Manny, miraculously returned to the Stanley Cup Finals following an eye injury.
Yep, draft-eligible kids these days don’t have any memories of the 2011 run. But that doesn’t mean Vancouver fans are over it.
Just ask Milan Lucic.
The Vancouver native joined the Donnie and Dhali podcast to chat about his official retirement, after the 38-year-old spent last season in Scotland playing for the Fife Flyers.
He mentioned that, to this day, some Canucks fans still give him a hard time about the Stanley Cup Final.
“I still hear people telling me how we cheated and all this type of stuff,” Lucic told hosts Don Taylor and Rick Dhaliwal.
The main theory Lucic and Canucks fans are likely referring to is the suspension of Aaron Rome for his open-ice hit on Nathan Horton in Game 3.
Colin Campbell was the senior vice president of hockey operations, overseeing player safety. His son, Gregory, played for the Bruins.
While Colin was replaced before the finals to avoid a conflict of interest, Canucks fans were skeptical after Rome was handed the largest suspension in Stanley Cup Finals history, a punishment that still surprised the defenceman years later.
Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that emails from Colin leaked out during a wrongful dismissal case for an NHL referee the year prior. In those emails, Colin complained about a referee who called penalties against his son.
Another conspiracy emerged after the Finals regarding the goalie pads of Bruins netminder Tim Thomas. While there was a lawsuit involving the pads he wore, it pertained to a smaller company (Piku) using the intellectual property of Vaughn in the making of Thomas’ pads. However, there was no evidence that his pads were illegal.
Conspiracy theories and claims of cheating aside, Lucic holds no ill will towards Canucks fans.
“I just try to have good interactions with people in Vancouver,” he said. “I love the people in Vancouver. I love all the hockey fans in Vancouver.”
“If I wasn’t playing against them, I definitely would have been cheering for the Canucks to try to win their first Stanley Cup.”
Even though Lucic talks about the 2011 Finals as a highlight of his career, he did admit that the whole scenario was unusual.
“Honestly, looking back, it was strange,” he said. “Obviously, I was excited about it because, just for friends and family, not having to go too far to watch the Stanley Cup Finals.”
Boston’s win in 2011 ended up being the only Stanley Cup of Lucic’s career. He helped the Bruins reach the Finals again in 2013, where Boston eventually lost to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Lucic played for four NHL teams during his 1,177-game career, including stints with the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames.