The NHL’s handshake line is one of the best traditions in sports. It’s a unique, powerful and often very emotional moment as two sides – winner and losers – come together at the end of each series. As we saw when Patrick Kane was mic’d up after beating the Wild, there are often some truly memorable moments in the handshake line.
Unfortunately, for some players its hard to shut off the emotion that had been flowing in a heated series and an intense final game. Such was the case in Game 7 between Montreal and Boston as Milan Lucic was accused of saying some disrespectful comments as he went through the handshake line.
Dale Weise accuses Lucic of being classless and disrespectful with his comments in the handshake. Won't say what was said.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 15, 2014
Here’s some video:
Though details haven’t emerged on what was said, Lucic responded to the claims with:
Milan Lucic called Dale Weise a "baby" for revealing what he said in the handshake line. "It was said on the ice so it will stay on the ice"
— Аrpon Basu (@ArponBasu) May 15, 2014
Well, that all but confirms something was said, but it doesn’t answer what was said.
Realistically, it’s kind of surprising things like this don’t happen more often. There is a lot of respect in the NHL, but to go from trying to blister your opponent with each check to saying “good job” and “good luck” in a matter of minutes isn’t going to be easy. That doesn’t excuse Lucic and whatever he may have said, but it is remarkable we don’t hear about these kinds of things more often.
Oh, and this is a stark contrast to Lucic’s “friendly” pat on the junk against the Lightning last season.