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Bolts Hoping To See The Sights
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Published: September 27, 2008
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Vinny Lecavalier is the only current player on the Lightning roster who experienced the team's last training camp in Europe. It was held in Austria in 1998, when Lecavalier was a rookie.
"I remember that," Lecavalier said after the team's first practice Friday afternoon in Prague, hours after arriving in Prague. "But it was a bit different than this year, when we have to play two regular-season games here."
The Lightning will open the regular season with two games against the New York Rangers on Oct. 4 and 5.
Lecavalier is somewhat familiar with the area.
"I was here with the Canadian national team as a 17-year-old junior back in 1997," said Lecavalier, now 28.
With Vinny Prospal returning to the Lightning this season, Lecavalier and the rest of the team have an advisor in Prague. Czech-born teammates Radim Vrbata and David Koci will be helpful, as well.
"I'm happy to be here," Lecavalier said. "Vinny Prospal was talking a lot about the city, over and over. I know it's an old town, very historical with a lot of beautiful buildings. But I can't say if I plan any sightseeing. Our schedule seems pretty full. We'll see what happens in the next few days."
Prospal, excited to be in his native country, is happy to serve as a guide.
"We were looking forward to getting here, especially the Czechs," Prospal said. "But we were discussing it not just among us. Some other guys were asking about details, wanting to know what to expect. All we have seen yet was during the trip from the airport to the hotel and the arena. Everything happened very fast after we arrived. Probably, there'll be some time to show the city to the guys today after we have our only practice."
Koci, a Prague native, also is eager to show his teammates well-known places.
"I'd like to do that and take them to Prague Castle, for example," said Koci, the Lightning's new tough guy. "When the lights are shining at it in the dark, the castle looks unbelievable."
Veteran Gary Roberts and club vice president and former goaltender Mike Vernon spent a week in Prague in 1989 as members of the Calgary Flames. The Stanley Cup winners opened their training camp here and played two preseason games against the Czechoslovakia national team.
"We continued to Moscow for some more games after. It's already 19 years ago," Vernon said. "The city has changed a lot since, even though I didn't see much. We just landed."
Vernon inquired about a cell phone number for his old friend and former Calgary teammate, Jiri Hrdina.
"We have a lot of duties here, that's a priority," Vernon said. "But maybe there'll be a chance to see him again."
Lightning coach Barry Melrose visited Prague as a defenseman for the WHA's Cincinnati Stingers for a tournament in 1977.
"After we arrived Friday, one of the fans told me, 'Welcome to Prague.' I answered that I'm not here for the first time," Melrose said. "But he looked younger, so he probably wasn't alive yet at that time."
The team's charter from New York arrived in Prague with about a 90-minute delay, so the first practice had to be postponed, displacing a local bantam team from the ice. The children were allowed to watch the NHL stars from the stands as compensation.
The Lightning's regular-season game in Prague will be played in the modern O2 Arena. That venue was occupied by a Czech elite league game on Friday, so the Lightning practiced in Letnany, in the northern part of Prague, in an arena owned by former NHL defenseman Frantisek Kucera.
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