TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

A Conversation With BRAD LUKOWICH

ADVERTISEMENT

CARTER GADDIS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 9, 2007

When the Lightning signed defenseman Brad Lukowich to a three-year contract this summer, they did more than bring back a savvy veteran who helped Tampa Bay win the Stanley Cup in 2004.

They added a burgeoning music mogul and soon-to-be restaurateur who is as much at home in the sunshine of Texas and Tampa as he is in his native Cranbrook, British Columbia.

Lukowich talked Monday about being back with the Lightning, about his love of music and about the planned opening of his sports bar/rock music joint in Dallas:

After spending the past two seasons playing for the Islanders and Devils, how has your return to Tampa Bay gone so far?

It's been great. It's been just an incredible experience. I hate to say 'easy,' but just a comfortable change, I guess is the best way to put it. ... You already know where you want to live, because you've been here before. You know a lot of the guys. Family-wise, my wife has friends here from the past within the team and the outer circle, as well.

Do you feel like you're a better player now than you were during your two previous seasons with the Lightning (2002-04)?

I've been around. It's been almost 150 games. Three years of, I guess, maturing off the ice. I've got two kids now. I'm not the wild, crazy, young guy I used to be. Now, I'm just a crazy, wild, old man. But I don't know. I think I've learned the game a little bit better. ... I was in a place New Jersey where if you want to be a defensive defenseman, you couldn't ask for a better place to be. I don't know about offensively. I want to learn the system here a little bit longer before I try too much. And if it gets too much, I believe the coaches would say, 'All right, you stay back a little bit longer.'

No doubt they would. Speaking of coaches, how did your first go-round with the Lightning help prepare you for playing under John Tortorella?

A player coming here for the first time, you have to learn how to react to the coaching. It's a hard place to play. It's a demanding and critical place to play. And you have to be very strong, physically, as well as mentally, to play here. Playing under Lou Lamoriello in Jersey helped me be a better mental player. I just hope I can put it all together and keep it going.

During the work stoppage that canceled the 2004-05 season, you started a record company and named it, appropriately enough, Lock-Out Entertainment. Now one of your bands, Dallas-based Neverset, is about to go on tour with Sevendust. What made you take a chance on Neverset?

They don't disappoint. They're an old-school band. They have a modern sound, but they leave it out there every night. And that's what attracted me to the band. They're a hard-working band. They don't really care about making money. They care about making enough money to make it to the next town and put on the best possible show they can. And that's how it used to be. They don't sit at home. They don't collect their radio money. They go out there and they earn it every night. They do odd jobs when they come home to get enough money to go back out on the road. All they want to do is play music.

Why start a record company in the first place?

I'm a terrible golfer. I found that I had a lot of spare time during the lockout just sitting around the house, and all I was doing was listening to music.

Who were you listening to?

I listen to everything. I shouldn't say everything. I'm not a big country fan. I like classical. The Doors are my all-time favorite band. I'm into Tool, stuff like that. A little bit artsy. I'm not a Rush guy. Everyone says I should like Rush because I like Tool and Tool's just, I guess, a heavier version. ... I like bands that can put out a full record. I don't like bands that just put out one song.

And now your entrepreneurial spirit has led you to founding a restaurant with some buddies in Dallas. How'd that happen?

Literally, we were sitting around one day and I was like, 'Man, we should open something that when I retire, when you guys are done, we all need to have some way to stay connected.' That's one thing that kills me, losing touch with people back home. So, they said, 'You know what, man? Do something like how we met.' We all came together in one restaurant. ... It's basically just an extension of everything I like to do in the summer. I love sports, and I love the music world. It's basically like a Hard Rock Cafe and you take a Champps sports restaurant and you just put them together. It's the same thing.

What's it called?

It's Luke's. We threw about five names out there. I kept coming up with names, and everyone kept saying Luke's. I was like, 'No, I don't want it to be just me.' Then they said, 'Why don't you name it after the person you idolize the most?' And I was like, 'That's my dad former NHL player Bernie Lukowich.' And they said, 'Let's call it that. What's your dad's nickname?' And I said, 'Luke.'

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT