Lucic leaves Calgary with mostly happy memories

The biggest disappointment for the winger was the Flames' shortage of success

It was expected Milan Lucic would leave the Calgary Flames as a free-agent, and no surprise he signed with the Boston Bruins.

Although he’s departed Calgary after four seasons and there were no overtures to bring him back, Lucic has no ill will.

“It was great. Honestly, I really enjoyed it. I really did. I think it was rejuvenating for me and made me love hockey again,” Lucic told Eric Francis on Sportsnet Fan960 on Tuesday when asked about his years in Calgary. “The city, the fans, everything, was really great. I really did enjoy it. Me and my family, we really did embrace being Calgarians and being Albertans.

“I really did enjoy being a Flame had to offer. I’m really thankful for it.”

Not that all was perfect.

“The one thing I am disappointed about is that our group didn’t do more,” he said. “I felt like we did have a great group and a special group, and it just sucks we didn’t do more, especially in (2021-22) when we lost to Edmonton in the second round.”

Lucic was given permission by the Flames before the July 1 deadline to speak with other teams and signed a one-year deal with the Bruins on the first day of free-agency. Returning to the city in which he started his career and won a Stanley Cup in 2011 was a slam-dunk decision.

“It’s a place that’s very special and dear to my heart,” Lucic said.

“Being able to go back to a place like Boston means everything.”

What Lucic leaves behind in Calgary is a team at a crossroads, headed toward some level of rebuilding or retooling, with a plethora of players due to be unrestricted free agents in 2024.

It’s also a franchise that required and received big changes, with both GM Brad Treliving departing when his contract ended and coach Darryl Sutter fired amidst plenty of talk of disharmony, not only between the players and the coach but also within the room.

“I’m a huge Darryl Sutter fan. Honestly, out of all the coaches I’ve played for, I think he’s the best and smartest coach I’ve played for. The way he breaks the game down and way he brings the game forward, I’ve never seen anyone do it the way he does,” Lucic said. “With the communication part, it’s very interesting. He’s very old school in a lot of ways, very set in his ways. I’ve only had great experiences with him.”

As for whispers there were issues in the room, Lucic said: “Everything was there other than the results, and there was frustration. I was frustrated and every single person was frustrated. We felt we were a good team and a good enough team to beat anyone. Ultimately, it comes down to the results and we didn’t have the results. That’s what we’re going to be remembered for, being a high-expectation team that that didn’t pull through.

“It was a great group and was a tight room,” he added. “A lot of the teammates liked each other and liked being around each other. There was just a lot of frustration and it boiled into what it turned into.”

As loyal as he is to Sutter, Lucic does believe the Flames made a good call handing the head coaching job to Ryan Huska.

“He’s done his time, coming up through the (WHL), the AHL and into the NHL. One thing that’s really great about Ryan is he’s coached under a lot of coaches so he’s got to learn from a lot of really good coaches and really great people. I think he’s gonna bring his angles to it and gonna be great.

“He has an understanding of what that locker room needs and what they need to do to turn it around. He’s a really good person, I’ve always enjoyed working with him and enjoyed being around him. … I’m excited to see how he’s going to do.”