Milan Lucic gives longtime teammate and close friend David Krejci a respectful send-off
The announcement from David Krejci early Friday afternoon that he would be stepping away from the NHL and continuing his career back home in the Czech Republic absolutely made waves in the hockey world.
The outpouring of love and support from around the NHL and especially from Bruins fans certainly must have been very special for the 35-year-old, as he prepares to go home and play in front of all of his family and friends in his native land.
On Friday evening, former teammate and close friend Milan Lucic had some parting words for Krejci, pumping his tires and sending him off with a ton of respect and admiration.
"[Krejci] should go down as one of the greatest Bruins centers of all time," Lucic began. "Everyone who's gotten to play with him will tell you he's one of the best players they've played with and I owe a lot of my success to him. When the games got bigger, he had ice in his veins and made big things happen. Great guy, great family, wish him all the best and a true champion," he concluded.
Lucic had the luxury of playing with Krejci for 8 seasons in Boston, enjoying his 3 most productive seasons with the Czech center, culminating in a 30-goal season for Lucic and a Stanley Cup championship in 2010-11 - so we can certainly take him at his word that much of his success came as a result of time spent with Krejci.
While Krejci has not closed the door on a potential return to the NHL at some point, at his advanced age, it would be somewhat surprising to see him return. This could be the end for, as Lucic mentioned, one of the greatest Bruins centers of all time.
Krejci suited up in 962 career NHL games, amassing 730 points and adding 124 points across 156 career postseason games.
All the best to Krejci in the next chapter.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Patrick Kane | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Teuvo Teravainen | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex DeBrincat | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marco Kasper | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Adrian Kempe | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Lucas Raymond | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Josh Anderson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jakob Chychrun | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrew Copp | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ryan Donato | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Lars Eller | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Barrett Hayton | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Albert Johansson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Schmaltz | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alex Turcotte | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Golden Knights | 41 | 28 | 10 | 3 | 59 | |
Capitals | 41 | 27 | 10 | 4 | 58 | |
Jets | 42 | 28 | 12 | 2 | 58 | |
Wild | 42 | 26 | 12 | 4 | 56 | |
Maple Leafs | 43 | 27 | 14 | 2 | 56 | |
Devils | 44 | 25 | 15 | 4 | 54 | |
Stars | 40 | 26 | 13 | 1 | 53 | |
Oilers | 41 | 25 | 13 | 3 | 53 | |
Avalanche | 43 | 26 | 16 | 1 | 53 | |
Hurricanes | 42 | 25 | 15 | 2 | 52 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||