Milan Lucic Opens Up on Contemplating Retirement in Calgary

"It was the exact opposite," Lucic said. "There were games where I was playing four, five, six minutes. You think, ‘This is not what I signed up for. This isn't even fun anymore.'"

Lucic felt lost. He contemplated walking away from the three full seasons that remained on his contract.

"Grateful is probably the biggest word," said Lucic, discussing his return with his wife, Brittany, and children Valentina, Nikolina, and Milan Jr. "Just being grateful for this opportunity, grateful for this chance."

"Just so I could focus on something new, something fresh," Lucic said. "Because maybe if I had gone back to Boston, it would have been a little harder to deal with. Because that's all I knew. I was used to him being around while I was a Bruin."