- Milan Lucic announced his retirement Sunday on his 38th birthday
- He won the 2011 Cup with Boston and played 1,177 NHL games
- Read below for his statement and a video of his career highlights
Milan Lucic is officially done playing hockey.
The veteran forward announced his retirement Sunday, his 38th birthday, closing the book on 17 NHL seasons with the Bruins, Kings, Oilers and Flames:
In a statement released by the NHLPA, Lucic looked back on what the game gave him.
“Looking back on my career, I feel truly grateful to have fulfilled my dream of playing professional hockey, culminating with a Stanley Cup win in 2011 with the Boston Bruins,” Lucic said. “I want to especially thank the Bruins for giving me my start in professional hockey and for instilling the confidence to reach new heights as a player.”
Boston grabbed him 50th overall in the 2006 draft, and he cracked the lineup as a 19-year-old just a year later. He finishes with 233 goals and 586 points in 1,177 regular season games, plus another 77 points in 136 playoff appearances.
His peak came in 2010-11. Lucic scored 30 goals and 62 points that season, then chipped in 12 more points during the playoff run as Boston won it all. The clincher came in Game 7 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, his hometown.
Check out this video of Lucic running through his greatest hits, fights included:
Half the league gets flattened somewhere in that video. Nobody played the power forward role quite like him.
Lucic hadn’t skated in an NHL game since October 2023, when he picked up an assist against the Kings in his second stint with Boston. He gave a comeback a real shot last summer, signing a PTO with the Blues before an injury got in the way, then landing a short AHL stint in Springfield.
He finished this season overseas with the Fife Flyers in Scotland, putting up 12 points in 26 EIHL games before calling it quits for good.
Few players blended 30-goal hands with that kind of menace. The league won’t see many more like Looch.
