By now I think most people have decided whether the good is worth the bad with Lucic, both with his play and his personality. I happen to think it is, but I definitely understand why people have the opposite opinion. This isn't a recent development though.
There are a lot of times when he takes over games hitting, forechecking, going to the net, and can look like the best player on the ice. But he's not a guy who can really create a lot of offense on his own, so he can look really terrible when the guys he's playing with aren't playing well. Overall I still think he's a very valuable player even when he's not putting up his typical offensive numbers.
Likewise, when things are good he's just a badass; intimidating, fighting, hitting people, and giving the team some attitude when it's needed. He's prone to having temper tantrums though, cheap shit with his stick, whining to the refs, trying to fight guys who don't fight, etc. Which is way more infuriating to me than when Marchand does it, because Lucic is 7 inches and probably 50 lbs bigger. He doesn't need to spear someone in the balls to prove his point (the one vs Detroit -- any thing dirty against Emelin gets a free pass)
I agree it can be hard to root for him when he's acting like a child. But it's so much fun to root for him when he's playing well and acting like a grown up that in the end you accept the bad. Hopefully he grows up and we get more of the good and less of the bad going forward
There are a lot of times when he takes over games hitting, forechecking, going to the net, and can look like the best player on the ice. But he's not a guy who can really create a lot of offense on his own, so he can look really terrible when the guys he's playing with aren't playing well. Overall I still think he's a very valuable player even when he's not putting up his typical offensive numbers.
Likewise, when things are good he's just a badass; intimidating, fighting, hitting people, and giving the team some attitude when it's needed. He's prone to having temper tantrums though, cheap shit with his stick, whining to the refs, trying to fight guys who don't fight, etc. Which is way more infuriating to me than when Marchand does it, because Lucic is 7 inches and probably 50 lbs bigger. He doesn't need to spear someone in the balls to prove his point (the one vs Detroit -- any thing dirty against Emelin gets a free pass)
I agree it can be hard to root for him when he's acting like a child. But it's so much fun to root for him when he's playing well and acting like a grown up that in the end you accept the bad. Hopefully he grows up and we get more of the good and less of the bad going forward
