Milan Lucic hints at why Flames players want out of Calgary!

While veteran forward Milan Lucic loves his time with the Calgary Flames, he went out to test the market only to sign right away with one of his former teams, the Boston Bruins on Saturday. When he met Eric Francis to talk about his return in BeanTown, Lucic also revealed why it’s a hard sell to get guys to play and stay in Calgary.

Before free agency opened, reports emerged that many top players wanted out of Calgary, including Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund, Noah Hanifin and Tyler Toffoli. The latter is now out as he was traded to the New Jersey Devils last month. Let’s also not forget how Johnny Gaudreau left Calgary and hit free agency last summer to sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets and the blockbuster trade that sent Matthew Tkachuk to Florida.

Lucic shot some possible answers to why his former teammates and other players aren’t looking to stay or play with the Flames. Here is what Francis pointed out as key answers from Lucic:

“When teams come in, it’s usually cold.
“Even though we all love the ’Dome, it’s old. That’s the main thing.
“It’s a smaller city, there’s not much going on other than the Flames.
“It’s not like on a day off you can go to an NBA game or an MLB game.
“The travel – it is tough travel.
“Again, just trying to give you an honest answer about what guys are thinking about.”

Lucic also mentioned what he loved about playing in Calgary, stating how great the fanbase is and how the experience with the Flames made him love hockey again.

“The city, the fans, everything - it was great, I really enjoyed it.”

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