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More To Come For Lecavalier?

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2007

BRANDON - For nearly a decade, expectations of greatness have followed the Lightning's Vinny Lecavalier around like a member of the paparazzi hounding him at every turn.

Is he the next Mario Lemieux? Is he the next Great One? When is he going to be a dominant force in the NHL? Will he ever live up to being a No. 1 overall draft pick?

Publicly and privately, they have all been asked of him countless times.

It hasn't mattered that Lecavalier already has his name on the Stanley Cup or that he was named the MVP of the World Cup of Hockey. It didn't matter that he was named to the Canadian Olympic team in 2006 or that he has had four consecutive 30-goal seasons and seven consecutive 20-goal seasons, or that he is the all-time franchise leader in goals.

And it probably won't matter much that he captured the Rocket Richard Trophy last year after leading the league with 52 goals while setting the franchise record with 108 points, third in the league.

Now, with the start of training camp under way following Thursday's first day of conditioning drills, the question surrounding him will likely shift to: Can he do it again?

Lightning general manager Jay Feaster believes he already knows the answer.

'I still don't feel that he has hit his peak. He's going to be 28 years old at the end of the season and I think he is still on the upward tick of his career,' he said. 'As I said to him at his exit meeting, while he had the 52, that if he had taken advantage of the shots that were 10-bell opportunities that he tried to set up a teammate for, he would have had 60.

'Is that what he is going to have this year? I'm not saying that. I don't want to put that on him, but certainly is what he is capable of, I don't think the 50 number is necessarily his high-water mark.'

Lecavalier raised his production level to new heights last season, registering 17 more goals and 30 more points than his career highs. It was the type of season many had been expecting of him since he entered the league as an 18-year-old in 1998.

But external expectations are something Lecavalier has been dealing with since he hit high school. They are the same now as they were then, only on a broader scale. He deals with them now the same way he did back then - by keeping his expectations to himself and letting others worry about what they expect of him.

'For me, the expectations are the same,' he said. 'Last year it went really well. But I always come in the same way. I trained the same way this summer and my goals are the same this year that I keep in my mind and that's it.'

That type of 'What, me worry?' attitude can often be misconstrued, even by those who know him the best.

'A lot of people can just say it doesn't bother them and they are kind of laissez-faire about it, and I thought that's how Vinny was when I first was coaching him, but there is an inner drive there too that doesn't show very often,' Lightning coach John Tortorella said.

'I just think he has that inner fire that he wants to continue to grow, and that's important. It's not what the media thinks, it's not what Jay thinks, it's not what I think; it's what he thinks he can do, because it all has to start there. And it's there. I didn't know it was there early on, but it's there.'

Lecavalier's consistency level improved dramatically last year as he went scoreless in consecutive games once all season. Yet he doesn't have a clear-cut answer as to why last season was his best statistically, other than to say experience.

But he knows how to replicate the success.

'I'm going to work as hard as I did last year. I'm going to try to produce as much as I can and help the team,' he said.

Reporter Erik Erlendsson can be reached at (813) 259-7835 or eerlendsson@tampatrib.com.

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