411mania’s NHL Conference Call Coverage: Vincent Lecavalier
Posted by Neil Borenstein on 09.26.2007
The reigning Maurice Richard Trophy winner talks about the Lightning returning to pre-lockout form, his goal-scoring ability, hockey in the South and much more
On Tuesday, Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning took some time out of his busy schedule to speak to the media in the latest NHL conference call.
Lecavalier had the best season of his eight-year career last season. In a full 82-game schedule, Lecavalier led the league in goals with 52, beating his former career-high set just one season earlier by 18 scores. Because of that, Lecavalier is the reigning Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner and current Lightning record-holder for goals scored in a season. The 1998 first overall selection by Tampa Bay also topped 50 assists with 56 helpers – 11 more than his previous career-high in 2002-2003. Lecavalier's 108 total points ranked him third in the league behind Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and San Jose's Joe Thornton. He led the Lightning in game-winning goals, as well, compiling seven over the course of the season.
Here are some highlights from the conference call:
Vincent Lecavalier
Photo courtesy of the NHL
On The Lockout
Spoiling Tampa Bay's momentum:
"Well, obviously we had it broken a little bit. Because after you've won a Cup, you're excited to come back into the season. I had to go play in Russia. Guys were playing in Europe. Some guys weren't playing at all. Yeah, I think it definitely didn't help. But there's no excuse for anything. Everybody started again after that, the next year after that."
Can the Lightning as they are now rekindle that success prior to the lockout?:
"I think we have a great team. I think we have a great offensive team. With the additions of some guys like Chris Gratton, who is a big guy, he can score some goals. He puts a lot of depth into our lineup. Guys like [Brad] Lukowich, who won the Cup with us in '04, is back. Just to have these veteran players around, same core guys from last year, some younger guys coming up, so I'm feeling very confident."
On His Play
Secret to goal-scoring ability last year:
"Well, I always say I think the secret was Martin St. Louis and Vaclav Prospal. I think our lined really clicked last year. It was the first year we played together. We started off very well, but then you get this confidence and it just keeps on rolling and rolling. We just kept going.
We had a very good power play. You get a lot of opportunities on the power play and also penalty killing playing with Marty. He's so fast, he's so aggressive, you've got no choice but to play like him when you're with him. He really brought a lot of consistency into my game."
Other teams' top defensemen covering him:
"Yeah, it's definitely tough. I mean, there's some pretty big defensemen out there. Pretty tall guys, 6'5"-6'6". You look in our division with Florida Panthers, when you have [Bryan] Allen and [Jay] Bouwmeester, two really tall guys that can skate, they're very mobile, it's tough, it really is. You have to go through that. You have to be maybe more physical or play more simple, put the puck behind them instead of trying to deke them or something like that because it's probably not going to work. So play simple, try to do some two-on-ones against them."
On Dan Boyle
Skate falling on Boyle's wrist:
"You know, I've never heard of anything like that. It's definitely bad luck. I mean, Dan Boyle came in the dressing room, and obviously there was a lot of blood. I've never really seen a cut that deep on anybody. We were all very scared. But it's bad luck. I mean, training camp. I don't know what to say. It's just something that obviously you don't wish on anybody."
Doing without Boyle:
"He's definitely a big part of our team. He plays 30 minutes a game, first of all. He can take that puck out of the zone pretty good. One of the best in the league. He's a tough guy to replace. We're going to have to do some things differently to try to improve our offense the first four or six weeks."
On The South
Southeast Division:
"I think from '98, where people thought it was a weak division, to now, I think it's a great division. They get better every year. I think it's going to be a battle this year. Atlanta won it last year. But there are teams like Washington with Ovechkin, and Carolina we know is going to have a good year this year because they won the Cup and last year didn't go as well for them. We know they'll be ready. I think it's just a great rivalry. When you play teams eight times during the year, it definitely builds that rivalry and makes it tough to win the division. But I think it's a great division. It's getting better every year."
Success of the Tampa market:
"For hockey in Tampa, I think obviously winning the Cup was pretty big. But it really started before that. When I first got in the league in '98, it was great, but there wasn't that many people at the games. Now it's pretty much sold out every single game and people are excited about the starting of the season. I think it really started the first time we played the playoffs, people really saw what type of team we were. They're very supportive. I think every year it's getting bigger in Tampa, for sure."
Increase of youth hockey in the South:
"The rinks, now, I don't think there's enough arenas in Florida. In Tampa anyways, kids have to drive 40 minutes because there's not as many rinks as players. I think the growth for kids that want to play hockey is so big, it's even tough for the parents. They have to drive 45 minutes, an hour. It's not as easy like in Canada, where there's an arena in every single town. The growth is there. Kids are really loving the game. But obviously when they saw us win the Cup, I think that definitely really helped."
Pride in being one of the stars of the South:
"I just do my best. I try to be as good a model as I can be for the kids. Hopefully I think I'm doing a pretty nice job. I think our organization is great like that, too. I think they're really into the community. I think that's why the hockey is growing like that. Guys really respect the players."
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