The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Milan Lucic

Episode Date: November 25, 2025

Milan Lucic joins Jeff Marek for a powerful, emotional, and revealing conversation about his return to professional hockey. Lucic breaks down the physical grind of recovering from a grade-three adductor tear, the mental toll of injuries, and the challenge of rebuilding confidence after time away from the game. He opens up about the last few years of his life, the struggles he didn’t confront properly, the impact of his father’s death, and how support from his wife and family helped him reset his path. Lucic talks candidly about vulnerability, recovery, coping with pressure, and what he hopes the next chapter of his career looks like as he pushes for another NHL opportunity with the Blues organization. It’s an honest, grounded interview that sheds light on the person behind the player.SHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Bauer: https://www.bauer.com/👍🏼Uber Eats: https://www.ubereats.com/ca👍🏼Prime Video: https://primevideo-row.pxf.io/c/5560083/3303015/20020Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@FNBarnBurner🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With that, we'll bring aboard our first guest. He is a veteran of 17 seasons in the NHL, currently on a PTO, playing with AHL, Springfield, making a comeback. He is Milan Luchich, and he joins me on the show now. Milan, thanks so much for stopping by today. How are you? I'm doing good. How are you doing? I'm doing well.

I guess that really should be the first question. How are you doing physically? How are you doing mentally? I mean, the two can go hand-to-hand. How are both sides of you doing right now? Like you said, those are two different things. But physically, physically I'm doing all right. I mean, I had an unfortunate pretty big injury in the exhibition season.

I ended up having a grade three ad-doctor tear. So that set me back. And I actually played the last three preseason games, you know, battling through it because of the situation of what I was in, I wanted to give the blues something to evaluate. So physically,

I'm finally feeling good again. You know, mentally I'm just doing what I can to stay positive, stay motivated. You know, it's been fun being around these guys here in Springfield, so

you're doing what I can to to stay positive for sure. I want to get to the mental side a little bit more because, like, look, we're all works and progress. I've said this from day one. None of us are finished products by any stretch of the imagination. But the nature of your injury, like, those are the skating muscles. I don't know if you ever had anything similar to that earlier in your career. But, you know, what was recovery from that like for you?

Like, what did you have to go through? Well, it's tough because, you know, touching on the, you know, touching on the, the mental side of things um you know i i don't think a lot of people realize how mentally how it affects you when you are injured you know you're on a different times you're on a you're on your you're on your you're on your own you're kind of not with the group you're on your own um you know i've never had this injury before thankfully uh which is odd for hockey players you know at some point some guys usually get a growing strain or tear or something but fortunately for me i've never had this experience before and you know when you're dealing with a big time lower body injury

um it's it's tough because you can't go on the ice yeah you got a you know the start of the rehab process you're you're basically just walking you know i spent a lot of time just walking in a treadmill walking, going for walks outside, you know, just to keep the movement and the blood flow going. But that's, that's really all you can, you can do at the start. The first I would say, you know, two weeks. And like I said, it gets a little mentally taxing because you're used to your body being your moneymaker and being able to do things that most people can't do. So, you know, it gets frustrating, but you got to just kind of, you know, mentally,

just focus on what you can control on that day and just try to get, you know, whether it's 2% better, 5% better, whatever it is, you know, and control what you can control on that day. And then, you know, once things start feeling better, you get on the ice. But when you're, when you first get back on the ice, you have to be cautious because you don't want to, you know, redo it. I think that's the difference between, you know, muscles and bones and tendons is, you know, when you're dealing with muscles and tendons, they have a tend to be.

if you if you rush them too fast or you push it hard a little hard uh too early you can you can re-agravate it or re-injure it so you know you're you're trying to be cautious but you're also trying to push it so it's it's it is mentally taxing so um yeah but all and all i mean the recovery was great they they took really care good care of me in st louis and and um you know got me going to where i was able to get back with the team and play a few games at Springfield. Who in St. Louis really sort of

pushed for you for this opportunity with the Blues organization. It's always easier when you have someone stumping for you and in your corner. Who was that guy? Who were those guys? Who are your people? I mean, from the get-go, it was just talking to

the general manager, Doug Armstrong. He was very interested in pushing for me And even from the coaching staff, you know, Jim Montgomery and even Claude Julian, who's a part of the coaching staff, you know, I would say those three guys were definitely pushing for me to, you know, come to the blues on a PTO because I had experienced with all three of them in the past. So, yeah, those are the guys I would say that were pushing for me. I mentioned earlier

like nobody is a nobody's a finished product and I also have and I learned this really early in in my life that I carry with me this belief that nobody wakes up in the morning and says I'm going to blow it today

no one I'm convinced that nobody wakes up and says my decision is to blow it as much as you can can you tell us what the last couple of years have been like for you yeah

It's, you know, a lot of ups and downs. I mean, just going through a lot. Obviously, I'm in a better place today than I was even a year ago from today. But like you said, you know, everything is, I'm trying to word this the right way. Take your time. Take your time. Yeah. Yeah, it's, you know, nothing is ever perfect, and people deal with struggles and people are struggling every day. And I think a lot of people suffer in silence as well.

And, you know, I think I grew up in a way where you, you know, you don't show weakness. You're tough, right? You know, you don't ask for help. you you you deal with it internally and and eventually it just it just piles up and piles up and piles up and to your point and I agree with you that nobody wakes up and says I'm going to you know just blow it all up today and and you know for me I think there were a lot of things that I didn't deal with properly in the past I mean you know a big one and I've talked about this before was my dad's death who he you know 10 years ago he he decided to take his own life and

and you know it was it was one of those things that I didn't grieve properly and then you know a lot of different things started happening and and I just didn't deal with my issues the right way and and eventually it just like I said it just came to a point of you know where where my life was unmanageable anymore. And, you know, I knew I had to make changes. And I did over the last two years with a lot of, you know, support. Especially, I would say, one of my biggest support has been my partner, my wife. And, you know, she's helped me and had my back and been a huge support for me throughout all this.

And her and the kids are a big reason why, you know, know i've been you know making strides in in the right direction and um so you know still still things aren't perfect i mean there's there's no to add to your point with what you said you know um so everything's always a work in progress it's uh one of the quotes that we'd like to use is progress not perfection because there is no finish line as far as self-care self-worth uh you know getting better recovery uh whatever programs people run in their in their daily lives there there is no finish line to it um you know until the end and um so just just finding tools and ways to to manage myself and and loving myself so i can you know

have good relationships and love others has has been a big part of um you know the last the last few years You know, I'll tell you something about my past. When I was 16 years old, you know, here we are in November where, you know, NHL Fight's Cancer Month is very much front and center for a lot of people. I lost my mom when I was 16 years old. And I didn't deal with it very well at all. And it carried well into my 20s and 30s. And my two passengers I carried everywhere were drugs and alcohol. And that was two of the more miserable choices I ever made in my life.

but I didn't have anything else around me. And those were the, all the decisions I made were fueled by that. And it all stem from that one event. And I carried it and I probably still do carry it to this single day. And I've thought about you, Milan, when I hear you talk about your father and I can't imagine what that feels like. But that's another like dark passenger that you carry

and you're going to carry for a long. time. I don't know how, I mean, passing away from cancer is bad enough. I don't know what type of tools I would need to go through what you went through with your father. Do you still carry that? I do. I definitely do. Yeah, that's why, you know, I said before, you know, people, you don't really know what's going on in in other people's lives because i think a lot of people uh suffer in silence and i know i did and and sometimes an event like that uh you know you just you just shared your experience with your mother and and even for me um you know i i had a i had a really hard time getting vulnerable with with people and you know and and i turned to uh

you know, mainly alcohol, you know, to mask what I was feeling because instead of, you know, because I built walls, you know, I started to not be vulnerable and, you know, I would never really express how I would feel. And also there's a fine line to that, you know, it's, you don't express to everyone what you're feeling. And, you know, it's not like now you need to be vulnerable to every single person but yeah you know it's good to have it's good to have people in your corner you know whether it's three people four people five people you know people that you truly trust you know um that that you can be fully vulnerable with and and that truly want to help you and uh for me you know that's that's something you know that i that i struggle with and led me down

on a path of masking my problems more and more just because of a big event like that. And not only that, like, you know, I was struggling, you know, I had that event and then I started to struggle with my play, you know, and so, you know, that that was, it compounds. It's like one top of the other. And then it's just like a layer and then eventually. right and and it's it's it's like I said it's it became unmanageable and and and and from the outside you know a lot of people look oh look you know it's an HL player it makes a ton of money you know gets to live this lavish lifestyle and and whatnot so how could how could somebody like that have any problems when you know I think most guys deal with a lot of

real-life problems like everyone else does in their in their regular days but i think an important thing is is like i talked about is you know having support and and being vulnerable i i don't know if you talked about this but when when when um when eddie old chick spoke about hockey fights cancer and you know when he when he first started going through it he he felt like he was a burden on people but because people were trying to help him and it wasn't until he started letting helping people help him you know it helped him in his recovery and it also you know when you allow people to help you it helps them too you know because they're they're being of service and it helps helps them with whatever you know they're going through and you know to to help

somebody else and so you know if someone's truly trying to help you you know then you know that's that's a good sign to to let someone in and be vulnerable with that person and not build those walls like like i did and and and and also you know and also you know search for answers at the bottom of a bottle or or or mask your problems by trying to escape with that dopamine hit so you know it's it's you know it's it's a powerful thing to be able to have support and people to rely on. But also, you learn that, you know, you can be, you know, in a right place to help someone else, too. And that's a big part of, you know, recovery and in dealing with your problems as well. I do want to ask you about hockey here.

I just have one more question sort of along this vein about you. What do you want? And the answer might be, I don't care. And that's legit. but what do you want people to know about Milan Luchich? You can say I don't care. It would be a legitimate answer. You answer only to the immediacy of your family around you.

Yeah, I mean, you know, I've, what do I? I mean, it's funny because, you know, I talked about a little bit about, you know, being an NHL player and, you know, it's it's it's it's a great game i love playing the game um i i gave my life to the game um and but that's just that's just the part of who i am you know that's not that's not you know it's almost like it's almost like a character right because the person that i am on the ice and and and and you know

how i go about my business and in trying to help my team achieve a goal and win hockey games is is is is is not who i am uh you know as a person and you know so i i guess that's that's that's that's really the only thing all the other stuff is you know i've is i've i've i've i've always try to be a good teammate a good friend good good family member and that's that's that's really that's really it okay let me ask you Let me ask you about hockey here. So next steps, next week, what's the plan, next game, next skate, like walk us through if you can't sort of, how far ahead are you looking?

Or is it just, I'm just looking forward to the next time I'm on the sheet? Yeah, I mean, it's hard for me to say I'm just looking forward to the next time I'm on my sheet on the sheet because, you know, that's where I'm trying to keep my mind at, you know? You know, just worry about today. Just worry about today. Just worry about the next, you know, worry about the next practice. But because at the end of the day, you know, the goal is to be playing in the NHL, right? And, you know, I'm in a position where I can only control what I can control.

And it goes back to what I just talked about. I can only control what I can do on the ice today. And then, you know, see if there's an opportunity. with the blues. If not, maybe an opportunity with another team. But then again, those are things that I can't control. So we'll see how the next, I guess, a couple days go and see if I end up back playing the game I love in the NHL

more than anything. Listen, we wish you all the success. And wherever this ends up leading, it's pretty obvious that your head is in a really good place. I love the sweater. I think we all do looking at that. Like you talk about like, you know what? Like I'm a hockey player, but that's just part of me.

But like Dad's a lifetime role. And listen, it sounds very much like you're in a really good spot. Thanks so much for joining me here today. Continued success and best of luck wherever this has. All right. Thank you. Have a great day. I can't get out my head, lost all ambitions day to day, because you can call it all right.

I went to the dark man, you're trying to give me a little medicine. I'm like, no, and that's fine. I'm not against those methods, but new. It's me and myself and how this is going to be fixing my mind. I'm going to backer. I turned on the music. I do want to back you're on the music

that's enough and up and I don't think it's full time to lose it.