Bolts Notebook: Vinny's injury healing well

Captain Vinny Lecavalier continues to work his way back from a broken hand when he suffered a non-displaced fracture near the knuckle on his right hand Nov. 11 in Washington.

The injury occurred when Lecavalier took a Bryan McCabe shot off his hand Oct. 16 in Florida. Lecavalier played through what was diagnosed as a bruise until he stretched his hand out during the game against Washington and felt something pop.

He had surgery Nov. 15 to have a rod inserted in the hand to help ensure the fracture healed properly. At the time of the surgery, the timetable for a return was set at four to five weeks - the four-week mark comes Monday.

But that doesn't mean Lecavalier will be back in action when Tampa Bay opens a three-game homestand against Atlanta on Wednesday. He could be back on the ice with the team soon, however, according to General Manager Steve Yzerman.

"There is a possibility he might start practicing with the team next week," Yzerman said. "At the three-week mark last week he went to see the hand specialist and everything looks good, he's healing well. So he's on target somewhere (in the Christmas) range."

Lecavalier has been on the ice for more than a week working out with Lightning strength and conditioning coach Chuck Lobe, including doing some stickhandling with a puck and taking some backhand shots, while the team has been mainly on the road. The workload expects to pick up next week.

"I will probably feel good enough to start shooting beginning of the week," Lecavalier said. "The hand is still stiff, but we are working hard on getting rid of the scar tissue."

Ritola update

RW Mattias Ritola and his agent, Don Baizley, met with Yzerman on Saturday to discuss the 23-year-old's bout with Meniere's Disease, an inner-ear problem that brings a whirring sound along with balance issues.

The condition is made worse when Ritola flies, and he had a flare-up when the team arrived in Calgary on Monday and again when Tampa Bay flew to Edmonton.

Ritola practiced Monday and played against Calgary but was held out Friday and Saturday.

After initially feeling down enough to contemplate giving up hockey because of the unpredictable nature of the situation, he will head back to Tampa to see an ear, nose and throat doctor as well as work with team medical personnel to further explore how to treat the condition.

"Of course, I'm still down about it; it's a hard feeling and it's frustrating," Ritola said. "But you have to accept it, and Steve and the whole team has shown that they are behind me and they are willing to do everything we can to get to a doctor, see what we can do and see if we can get it better."

Ritola, who is deaf in his left ear, has been on medication that he said has helped cut down on the dizziness and imbalance, which he hasn't felt in about two weeks, he said. But he still hears the whirring sound in his ear and feels physical pain when the team plane descends for landing. When he returns to Tampa, he is expected to receive an injection in his ear to help alleviate the remaining symptoms.

For now, the approach is to take everything on a day-by-day basis to find a solution to get him healthy and back playing.

"We are trying to figure out the best way to manage this and the degree of severity, from what I understand, varies from person to person," Yzerman said. "He'll see a specialist and there are more options for treating this and getting him better and get this under control and then we'll go from there."

Minor trade

Yzerman said the minor-league trade earlier in the week that sent LW Juraj Simek to Boston for C Levin Nelson was made as much to bring in Nelson's gritty style of play as much as it was for Simek to get a better opportunity.

"Juraj felt he needed a change, and he wasn't really happy with where it was going in Norfolk, so we were able to add a gritty guy that fits into our lineup," Yzerman said.

Nelson scored his first goal in his first game with Norfolk on Saturday, picking up an empty-net goal in a 7-4 victory against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Retirement

D Mattias Ohlund, a long-time Canucks defenseman, stayed dressed in a suit for the entire pregame ceremony to retire the jersey of former Vancouver captain Markus Naslund. Ohlund spent his first 11 seasons with the Canucks.