Moments after Boston GM, Peter Chiarelli issued a statement commending Lucic for "taking the high road" in MillerGate, Lucic joined a Boston area radio station to bask in the glory of beating yet another rap.
Lucic appeared live in studio with "Felger and Mazz" on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston.
Here's what he had to say, courtesy of prohockeytalk.com:
On the Miller hit: “I could not have avoided him. (Laughs) No, I couldn’t have. And even if you look at the replay I straighten out my body to lessen the impact as much as I could. I mean, that’s not the type of player that I am to go around running goalies. Obviously the fans enjoyed it…it was entertaining for them.”
On if he believes the hit caused Miller’s concussion: “All I can say is that it’s unfortunate he got hurt. He got hit later on in the period when [Ville] Leino pushed [Tyler] Seguin into him — he got hit just as hard. You get bowled over twice like that, something’s going to happen and it’s unfortunate he got hurt.”
On Miller saying Lucic outweighs him by 50 pounds and calling him a piece of (expletive): “Correction on the 50 pounds…I think I’m 60 pounds heavier than him. (Laughs) So that’s one point. You know what? Whatever. He wanted to stick around and say what he said…I’m not the type of guy that likes to talk trash in the media and I’m not gonna stir things up. If I wanna talk trash, I’ll talk it on the ice so he can hear it directly.”
On Buffalo’s lack of response: “I’m not calling their team out…all I’m gonna say is everyone knows if it happened on our end of the stick what would happen. (Host asks: What would happen?) Well, how we would react — and we’ve shown in the past how we do react.”
On if he thinks this kind of hit should be legal: “Even though we made contact (Laughs)…We made a lot of contact (Host: “You ran him!”)…I braced myself to try and lessen the impact. But if a guy is going out of his way to bury a goalie, I don’t think there’s anything like that. But if it’s a collision that’s unavoidable, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Welcome to the Chuckle Hut. Tonight's headliner is Milan Lucic. he's about as funny as that puke Dane Cook, which is to say, not at all!
Bruins GM, Peter Chiarelli, commends Lucic for taking the "high road".
Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli's statement on the NHL's decision re: Milan Lucic
"We are satisfied with the NHL's announcement that there will be no suspension or fine for Milan, and we respect the process that the League took to reach this decision.
"I am also proud that Milan took the high road, and chose not to engage in an exchange of words after the unfortunate comments that were made about him following the game."
NHL Czar of Discipline ( and lack thereof) Brendan Shanahan has concluded his investigation into the matter between Boston's Milan Lucic and Buffalo's Ryan Miller.
Shanahan has decided not to suspend the power forward for his collision with Ryan Miller on Saturday night.
Shanahan cites" lack of intent" on the part of Miller, hence, no suspension.
Sabres fans will not be happy about this.
"I had the hearing because I did make an initial assessment of the play as I do with all plays, but I did have some questions for Milan and I wanted to hear directly from him," Shanahan told NHL.com. "They were regarding his intent; at what point did he know there was going to be a collision; and whether or not he felt he had the time to avoid the collision. I was satisfied with his answers."
There are 60 goalies in the NHL and they cannot feel comfortable with this ruling by the league as it now places the tender in the cross-hairs of aggressive fore checkers and passers by.
Waste a goalie, get two minutes. Sounds like a bargain.
From nhl.com:
Shanahan said the minor penalty for charging was the proper call in this case because it follows Rule 42.1, which reads "a goalkeeper is not fair game just because he is outside the goal crease area."
"The minor penalty called on the ice was the correct call," Shanahan said. "And, while it's unfortunate that Miller was hurt I saw nothing egregious about this hit that would elevate it to supplemental discipline
Lucic will have to defend his actions in Buffalo on Thanksgiving Eve.
The Sabres play Montreal, New Jersey, Carolina and Phoenix before the Boston re-match on 11/23.
Sabres are presently ranked 16th in NHL right now averaging 12 PIMs per game. 9 majors thus far. Wanna bet their PIMs go up tonight and this week?
What would you like to say to Brendan Shanahan and Milan Lucic now?
Tyler Myers is a healthy scratch for tonight's tilt in Montreal. Its the first scratch of his young NHL career. The big man should not be surprised by Lindy Ruff's decision.
Myers has been inconsistent at time this season, and has been indecisve with the puck. He's made poor decisions in all three zones.
Myers failed to answer the bell on Saturday night after Milan Lucic smoked Ryan Miller. Watch the below video. Myers kept his gloves on rather than engae Lucic and Chara in a phycial show of support for Miller.
Mike Weber will assume Myers' position on the Buffalo blue line.
Former Sabres pest and NHL bad boy, Matt Barnaby, told WGR- TV today that it appeared to his eyes that Milan Lucic went out of his way to crush Ryan Miller.
Barnaby is critical of the way that the Sabres players allowed Lucic to smoke Miller, with any type of retribution.
"I'm surprised that five guys (Sabres) didn't jump him (Lucic) after it happene", Barney said.
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Lindy Ruff spoke at Bell Cenre after today's skate:
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Jhonas Enroth will start in place of Miller tonight. He says he's ready to lead the team while Miller heals from concussion.
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Thomas Vanek is ready for battle.
Thanks to Kevin Snow and Scott Miner from sabres.com for use of their video.
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11:05 am:
Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News tweets that Sabres Dman Tyler Myers is still on the ice in Montreal, a sure sign that he is in trouble with his coach.
If Myers is indeed benched, it should come as no surprise. Myers has struggled mightily at times this season. He's made some costyly turnovers that have resulted in terrible goals against the Sabres. He's been passive at times in his own Dzone.
perhaps a night in the press box will do #57 some good.
Ruff benched Miller when the goalie struggled. Its a good sign that he's now holding all players accountable.
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Sunday November 13 was quite an day in emotionally charged day, wasn't it?
Monday November 14 has all the ear markings of being a bigger, more intense day.
Today, is "Response Day" for all parties concerened. Lindy Ruff and his team will have the opportunity to respond. Milan Lucic will have to answer charges being levied against him. Brendan Shanahan will have his say on the matter, too.
The Sabres will take their game day skate in Montreal at 10:30am EDT. Later tonioght, they will have the opportunity, on national TV, to send a message to the teams around the NHL that they are not happy with the way that their starting goaltender was destroyed on Saturday night. To a man, the Sabres are not happy with their response to the Lucic hit. They will have a chance to reverse the court of public opinion that has been very critical of their soft and passive answer to the Lucic hit on Saturday night. Last week, the Flyers used Versus national TV coverage as a international platform to expose the idiocy of the "Tampa 1-3-1 Trap". After the game, the NHL added the "1-3-1" matter to this week's GM meetings for further discussion. The Sabres can use this Versus spotlight as a vehicle to inform the rest of teh NHL that their team will not tolerate shenanigans and punk play. They can change perceptions with a stiff, stout, and aggressive performance vs. Montreal tonight. I expect the team's pride to kick in. Knowing the guys in that room, I know that they are sickened by what they witnessed on Saturday night.
Lindy Ruff will have to face the combined Buffalo and Montreal media. Ruff side-stepped the media at the Bell Centre on Sunday afternoon, choosing to leave the building after he had addressed his team during a meeting, rather than erupting like Mount Vesuvius at the pointed questions that would have been asked of him.
Its understandable. Ruff likely vented his spleen in the meeting room. I respect the coach and his decision to not step in front of cameras and microphones moments after he had charred the Earth in the room. Ruff expressed his displeasure privately. No need to be redundant and do it with the media. Ruff's response was understandable. Its his right to adhere to the "24 hour rule". Dial out the emotion. Ruff will respond to the facts of this matter, and his team's response to it this morning.
Ryan Miller is officially parked in the garage after the Boston Bruins team doctors diagnosed the former Vezina winner with a concussuion on Saturday night.
At 1pm EDT today, Milan Lucic will have to explain his careless actions that led to Miller's concussion with NHL Czar of Discipline, Brendan Shanahan. The NHL will respond and render their opinion on the Lucic assault on Miller. Personally, I'm expecting Shanahan to suspend Lucic for his carelessness and lack of respect for his opponent. Lucic is no choir boy. He's a repeat offender.
The NHL GMs meet in toronto this week. Sabres GM, Darcy Regier, will likely share his concerns with his peers and counterparts on the Miller matter. What Lucic did to Miller has officially sounded the horn to signify open hunting season on the goaltenders of the NHL. The league can curb such enthusiam by throwing a suspension on Lucic for his aggressive play on Miller. Otherwise, goons will will continue to truck goalies because the punishment is only a two minute charging penalty, as handed out by the ref on Saturday night.
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Jhonas Enroth will take his 5-0-0 record to the crease tonight for the Sabres. He has a sterling silver 1.75 GAA and .944 save percentage.
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