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Vinny's Play Drawing Praise

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 7, 2008

Updated: 01/06/2008 11:44 pm

NEW YORK - Vinny Lecavalier has done it before, and without a doubt he will perform such a feat again.

But his between-the-legs move to get the puck on his backhand for an easy shot into an open net Saturday night in Ottawa is one of those plays that showcase his skill and often leave spectators in awe.

The Ottawa Citizen described Lecavalier's goal, which gave Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead in the first period, as being set up by a "circus deke through his legs," while the Ottawa Sun called it a "sweet between-the-skates move." Hockey Web site Kukla's Korner had a video link to a highlight of the goal with the description of "a great between-the-legs move" by Lecavalier.

Whatever anybody else wants to call the play, Lecavalier just calls it a bit of instinct combined with plenty of luck.

"I don't really think about it ... I just kind of do it," Lecavalier said of the play. "I knew I wanted to fake goaltender Ray Emery out, but for me, the worse thing is that after it happened, if I had missed it I would have been pretty mad at myself and I would have thought that I should have just shot the puck.

"I always try to play with my instinct, and with that one, I just did it. I think you should always do the first thing that comes to you."

Lecavalier's instincts are treating him just fine this season, as he leads the league with 62 points and is among the top five in both goals (28) and assists (34). He is following up on last season, in which he broke through all the over-hyped expectations to lead the league with 52 goals and win his first Rocket Richard Trophy. Yet, when it came to MVP voting, Lecavalier wasn't even a finalist, finishing behind eventual winner Sidney Crosby and a pair of goaltenders, Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur.

So, if Lecavalier's performance went underappreciated by the mainstream last season when he was overshadowed by Crosby, what does that mean this season as the Lightning have struggled on the ice?

"It's not going to help his situation as we have gone through, but as far as going unnoticed, I think it's now just sent everybody scurrying for the record books," Lightning general manager Jay Feaster said. "I already got the Max Bentley questions while we were in Canada."

Bentley, incidentally, was the last player to lead the league in scoring for a team that finished in last place. That happened during the 1946-47 season when Bentley, a Hall of Famer and former league MVP, finished with 72 points for the last-place Chicago Blackhawks.

Those comparison popped up when Tampa Bay visited Montreal on the second-game of a three-game trip through Canada that wrapped up Saturday in Ottawa. And it seems to be that when the Lightning travel through hockey-mad regions north of the border is when Lecavalier and his teammates get any kind of mass exposure.

The attention is just fine with Lecavalier, who enjoys traveling to and playing in Canada, even with the extra demands on his time, whether for media requests or spending time with family. It doesn't hurt that he tends to perform well when he's there, either, having picked up multi-point games in all three cities.

Yet, many of the questions directed at Lecavalier centered either on the team's struggles - the Lightning are on their longest winless streak in almost six years - or what it's like to have so much individual success for a losing team.

"I guess they just wonder what I think about leading in scoring, but the simple facts are that we are not going to be happy when we are losing games," Lecavalier said. "No matter what I do, or what anybody else does, individually, if the team is not winning it's not fun. I'm not in this for self-gratification.

"I know things are going well for me scoring-wise, but I have to keep it up because that's how I'm going to help the team. It's not something I think about, leading the league in scoring or anything like that. I do try to produce and help the team. If we aren't winning, then it doesn't mean as much."

And if the team was winning, then perhaps what Lecavalier has been able to showcase would get more attention.

"He is an incredible talent, there is no question about it. ... He's the best two-way player in the game," Feaster said. "I've said this before, but if Vinny played in a media market like New York or Toronto they would be erecting monuments to him. But he plays in Tampa Bay and we have struggled this season, so it goes largely unnoticed."

Even when he makes a play that many in the hockey world are still talking about.

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

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