Milan Lucic is getting a second chance to play hockey with the St. Louis Blues.
Blues Season Ticket Holders gather to fist-bump the team prior to the season opening game against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 9 at Enterprise Center. (Source: West Newsmagazine/Lou Countryman photo)
Lou Countryman
Blues President and General Manager Doug Armstrong said he realizes there are risks involved in signing someone like Lucic, given his history.
“Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t,” Armstrong said.
The 37-year-old veteran winger has been out of hockey for almost two years. Lucic played four games and registered two assists to start the 2023-24 season. His last game was on Oct. 21, 2023, when he was sidelined with an ankle injury.
Then he had his career cut short afterward due to an alleged incident on Nov. 18, 2023, involving his wife, which led to Lucic’s arrest.
He faced charges of assault and battery on a family or household member, but charges were dropped in February 2024. His wife declined to testify against him.
Lucis was enrolled in the NHL Player Assistance Program after taking an indefinite leave of absence. He has since completed the program and been reinstated by the NHL.
He has worked at rehabilitating himself so he could hopefully get back in the game.
In August, the Blues signed Lucic to a professional tryout. There is no guarantee that he will have a job when the season starts.
Blues coach Jim Montgomery himself is no stranger to second chances.
Montgomery was fired from his head coaching job by the Dallas Stars in 2019 for alcohol-related issues. He then was given a second chance by St. Louis. Former coach Craig Berube hired him as an assistant coach.
St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) eyes the puck during the season opening game against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 9 at Enterprise Center. (Source: West Newsmagazine/Lou Countryman photo)
Lou Countryman
But there is no sentiment in hockey. It’s a business.
“He’s got to win a job,” Montgomery said about Lucic. “I know that sounds simple, but he’s got to be good 200 feet. He’s got to know what we’re doing defensively.”
The Blues checked everything out before signing Lucic to his tryout.
“We certainly did our due diligence,” Armstrong said. “I talked to Milan, obviously, I talked to his family, I talked to his sponsor, I talked to the league. He’s 22 months sober now. There’s a lot of things that he does behind the scenes, I’ll let him describe.
“I think one of the things I appreciate about (Blues owner) Mr. (Tom) Stillman is his willingness to allow me to discuss second chances, allow me to paint the picture of why I believe it’s worth the risk. But it’s not just a second chance based on hockey.
“You have to have everything else in place, and Milan does. Now it’s his responsibility to continue that off the ice. We’ll monitor that. Now we’ve got to see if he can play hockey in the NHL; he hasn’t done that in a while.”
Lucic can be an asset. He has won a championship. He was a member of the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins in 2011. He scored 62 points that season.
The 6-foot-3, 236-pounds Lucic has the size to contribute to the Blues. He has a good hockey resume.
Lucic has played 1,177 games in the NHL and ranks 20th in the most games played since the 2007-08 season. Lucic has 586 points (233 goals, 353 assists) and 1,301 penalty minutes and 29 goals, 48 assists (77 points) in 136 Stanley Cup playoff games.
The Vancouver native has played in 17 NHL seasons, including nine with Boston. The Bruins drafted Lucic in the second round of the 2006 NHL Draft and he spent the first eight seasons of his career with Boston.
He also has logged four seasons with the Calgary Flames, three with the Edmonton Oilers and one with the Los Angeles Kings.
Can he still play? That’s the question.
“Now, he’s got to see if he can play hockey in the NHL,” Armstrong said. “If he can, he’s an element player. He’s a big, strong player. He commands respect. He makes everybody on the team stand a little taller, maybe hang into the scrum a little longer knowing that he’s coming in behind them.
“He and I have talked about this. The NHL — I don’t think that we got pushed around last year, but there were three or four teams that felt a little more comfortable than they will be if he can still play and be on our roster.”
Armstrong has history with Lucic.
“I was the manager of the World Championship team he was on a few years ago,” Armstrong said. “You spend a month with a guy; you get to know him. One of the things I shared with him when I was at the orientation camp in Calgary (was) how many of the competitors that were there are hoping for good things for him.
“Not just the players like (former teammate Brad) Marchand, but he has universal respect for the way he plays the game, played the game, and guys — if he’s earned it, which I think he has off the ice — would love to see him write the chapter, whenever that finishing chapter is, different than the way it is today.”
Blues captain Brayden Schenn said he likes that he’s seen so far from Lucic.
“Big. Fast. Looks good,” Schenn said. “He’s a guy that you want on your team. He can control the bench and control the room. He’s a guy that when you have him on your team, guys know he’s out there.
“So that’s an important guy you need in your locker room and on your team. I’m looking forward to — I think we all are — to seeing him. Everyone speaks very highly of him that’s ever played with him.”