Tomas Jurco, now in Chicago, says Detroit is boring by comparison
Tomas Jurco didn't have flattering things to say about his former team or city after the Detroit Red Wings traded him to the Chicago Blackhawks last month.
The 24-year-old forward recently talked with the Chicago Tribune about adjusting with a new team and city - and says he already notices a big difference, particularly with extracurricular activities.
"There's so much stuff to do," Jurco said about Chicago, according to the Tribune. "In Detroit, we were so bored, my girlfriend and I, we didn't know what to do. ... There wasn't much to do. Here there's so much stuff to do."
Ouch!
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To be fair, Chicago is certainly a bigger city and market, with more than 10 million people in the metropolitan area as of the 2010 census, compared to Detroit's 4.2 million. But still. "Wasn't much to do"? We think of things to do every week!
Jurco also was asked about the difference between playing for the Blackhawks - the top team in the Western Conference and a 3-time Stanley Cup winner since 2010 - and the Red Wings, who are Cup-less since 2008 and on the verge of missing the postseason for the first time in 26 years.
"The biggest difference is that here we're told to make plays instead of just making safe plays and chipping it in and playing safely," Jurco told the Tribune. "Here you actually should create something if you want to stick in this lineup because there's so many creative players."
He also said: "I have that bad habit sometimes to play safe and chip it in. When I played juniors (and) in the AHL, I was a creative player, so it takes a little while for me."
The Wings drafted Jurco 35th overall in 2011. His best season was in 2014-15, when he put up 3 goals and 15 assists in 63 games, but put up no points in limited action this season (16 games). He was traded to the Blackhawks on Feb. 24 for a third-round pick near the NHL trade deadline as the Red Wings sought to build future assets during a down season.
Contact Brian Manzullo: bmanzullo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianManzullo.