Lucas Johansen scores first professional goal with special meaning

Sunday night in Chocolate Town, rookie defenseman Lucas Johansen scored his first American Hockey League goal.

It was Hershey’s annual Pink the Rink event to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Johansen’s grandmother, Lilly, battled breast cancer. He carried her name on his stick tonight.

“So my grandma, she battled breast cancer so I wrote ‘Lilly’, her name was Lilly, on the stick,” he said as he was inspecting the puck. “That was one of the first thoughts I had [after the goal.] That one was for Lilly – my dad’s mom.”

The Bears trainer, Dan “Beaker” Stuck put pink tape and a breast cancer awareness pin on the puck for Johansen.

In eight games with the Bears, Johansen now has four points and feels very acclimated to the American Hockey League.

Forgot to share these: two close up looks at Johansen's first goal. Beaker put some of the pink sock tape and a pin in the puck for him pic.twitter.com/q1OXy6GhO7

— Kyle Mace (@kyle_mace) October 30, 2017

“It definitely takes some adjusting. It’s more internal. You have to get used to how we want to play. I’ve always played a passive game, in my whole life I’ve played passive defensively, and now all of a sudden we play aggressive. Those are things you have to pick up quick, and I definitely feel more comfortable.”