Lecavalier Thinks He'll Be Set For Season Opener

As the days before reporting for Lightning training camp continue to dwindle, Vinny Lecavalier is hoping he'll be able to suit up when the games count for real.

Lecavalier, fresh off a new 11-year contract signed in July, returned to Tampa recently to work directly with Lightning team trainer Tom Mulligan. The earlier-than-normal trek back to town for Lecavalier comes as he continues to rehabilitate his surgically repaired right shoulder.

The fact the 28-year-old star center is back on the ice is certainly positive news. He is doing everything he normally does to get ready for the start of camp, except with what he can do with the shoulder, which was operated on in April by James Andrews to repair a torn labrum.

Lecavalier is skating, working with the puck and even taking part in informal scrimmages at the Ice Sports Forum. He said he's happy with how his shot is progressing with two weeks to go before camp, although he still finds taking slap shots a bit much right now.

"It feels pretty good," Lecavalier said. "It's definitely not ready for contact or anything like that. Every time I go on the ice, it feels a little bit better. My wrist shot is a little weak, but it's getting there."

The first time Lecavalier stepped on the ice in early August back in his native Montreal, he didn't think there would be any way he'd be ready for training camp.

"I was worried, the first day after I skated, I came off and I don't think I'll be ready for the season, that's what I thought, I said there is no way," he said. "Then the second time, I gained some confidence and I knew I could do it, then the third day it was a little better. So it's all about the confidence. It's been like that every day since I had my surgery, every day it just gets a little bit better.

"It's like the first time I tried to do push-ups; I couldn't do it. I tried it a week later and I could do two or three. It's just about building strength and confidence."

Though Lecavalier is making strides in the right direction, there is no guarantee he will make an appearance in any of Tampa Bay's six preseason games. And while the target is to be ready for the season-opening weekend in Prague, Czech Republic, on Oct. 4 and 5 against the New York Rangers, there is no certainty Lecavalier will be in the lineup.

"I think about getting hit and that's what we have to worry about," he said of playing in the preseason. The shoulder "has to be 100 percent, it has to be as strong as the other one. I've been working out hard to get there.

"I would like to play at least two preseason games, but I can't say that I'll be able to. I just don't know how it's going to feel. I don't know how it's going to react. I'm confident I will play in the regular-season opener but I can't predict the future, so we'll have to see."