All We Want For Christmas For The LA Kings/Ducks

Lori Hultin

All I Want for Christmas … is for the Los Angeles Kings to re-sign Milan Lucic!

Admitting you’re wrong is always tough. Changing a long-held view of an individual? Also tough.  In the case of Milan Lucic, I have to eat crow and do both. When Lucic came to the Kings, like many fans, I was wary. In fact, I’m fairly certain I went through the traditional five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance.

My long-held views of Lucic were probably the same as most: a big, cantankerous, mean-spirited bully who demonstrated a lack of composure and class during his years with the Boston Bruins. Incidents like his infamous hit on goaltender Ryan Miller, or his exchange of words with the Montreal Canadiens’ players during the handshake line in the 2014 playoffs painted an unflattering picture.

In his first regular season game with the Kings, Lucic did nothing to reverse this view. During the Kings’ loss to the Sharks on opening night, he made a beeline for an unsuspecting Logan Couture right in front of the Sharks’ bench and was promptly given a game misconduct. At the time, I remember thinking that the Kings had made a terrible mistake and it was going to be a very long season. But then, something happened to Lucic. He began to fit in and play a different role with the Kings. Somehow, he realized he could play a big, strong, physical game without being a bully. Somehow, he realized that his size and skill could be put to great use if he stayed out of the box and played within the Kings’ system. And then, a Christmas miracle of sorts happened: I began to really like Milan Lucic.

Whether playing wingman to Jeff Carter or, more recently, to Anze Kopitar, Lucic has been one of the most important and effective Kings this season. “Looch”, as he is referred to now (rather fondly) by Kings’ fans, has 10 goals and 11 assists on the season, placing him third in total points behind Carter and Tyler Toffoli on the team. He has played admirably whether checking opponents behind the goal to free up pucks, creating effective screens in front of goaltenders so his teammates can score or being in the right place, at the right time in front of the net to put the puck in himself. Coming from Boston, a team that has a similar style to the Kings, it’s clear he already had a defense-first mentality and he has been able to pair that with a strong, offensive performance so far this season.

Finally, when Lucic played for the East, all I could see was his intimidating presence on the ice, his sometimes-questionable decisions and tough guy demeanor. Now that he’s part of my team, I’ve discovered that he has a great smile, is well spoken and articulate. Maybe I never cared to see that side of him before, but now that it has been revealed, it has only helped make the case for keeping Milan Lucic in a Kings’ uniform!

So, I admit it, I was wrong about Milan Lucic and all I want for Christmas is for Dean Lombardi to find a way to re-sign him next season. Well, that and all of the things my CaliSports colleagues want, too! Happy Holidays and Go Kings Go!