John Bishop is the beat writer for BostonBruins.com. He covers the Black & Gold hoping to offer a positive look at the team, not only from the stands and the press box, but also from inside the locker room. A graduate of Boston U. and Northeastern, 'Bish' grew up in Connecticut and moved to the Hub of Hockey in 1993. Since then he has made all four rinks at the Beanpot schools, as well as both Gardens, his icebound homes away from home. Prior to joining the TD Banknorth Garden staff in 2005, Bishop had written for several publications, with his primary focus being college hockey. He coauthored the book Bygone Boston in 2003 and hopes someday to pen a bio of Hobey Baker.

I don't know if anyone else caught this, but this morning one of the B's new media relations interns, Hannah, was scouring the web and found two articles about Bruins prospect Milan Lucic.

Apparently, the Black & Gold's own Cam Neely, a native of British Columbia who played for the Vancouver Canucks for three seasons before moving on to legendary status in Boston, is a fan of Mr. Lucic's game and called to tell him so after the latter earned MVP honors while leading his team to the Memorial Cup last weekend.

Elliot Pap of the Vancouver Sun sets the scene in his story:

Milan Lucic's phone rang on Monday night and the Memorial Cup MVP didn't recognize the number on his call display.

Who could it be? he wondered. Maybe it was Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan, or one of his handlers, prepping him for Tuesday's big celebration at city hall and the proclamation of Vancouver Giants Day.

"I didn't know who it was," Lucic said with a chuckle during Tuesday's festivities. "Then he said, 'Hey, it's Cam Neely calling.' I was pretty shocked. I was in awe. It's something I'll remember for the rest of my life. He congratulated me for a job well done at the tournament and wished me luck for the future with the Boston Bruins."

Lucic, a Vancouver native, was a second-round pick of the Bruins in last year's NHL entry draft and his play has been likened to that of Neely, the Hall of Fame winger who scored, fought and starred for the Bruins.

But the call almost didn't happen, as Lucic was screening his calls.

Steve Ewen of the The Province, explains:

Lucic knows now that call display can be a dangerous thing.

The Vancouver Giants winger…admits that he almost missed a surprise phone call from NHL Hall of Famer Cam Neely.

He nearly didn't pick up because Neely registered as an unknown number on his display.

"What if I didn't take that call?" Lucic chuckled Tuesday..."I did, and the next thing you know it's Cam Neely talking to me...At first, I was a little tongue-tied. But he's a great guy, a laid-back guy, so he was very easy to talk to."

Lucic and his teammates, including Wacey Rabbit -- another B's prospect, no doubt enjoyed their big day on Tuesday.

And here's hoping the big forward has some unforgettable days in New England in the very near future.