Bolts' Meszaros will go for the gold in 2010

When Lightning defenseman Andrej Meszaros participated in the 2006 Olympic for Slovakia, he was a wide-eyed rookie going up against - and playing alongside - some of hockey's biggest stars.

"It was great, it was my first year in the NHL and I got picked for the Olympics, so I was pretty young and to play against those big, big stars there from Sweden, USA, Russia, so it was unbelievable,'' Meszaros said. "Then playing with the big Slovakia stars, that's something I'll never forget.''

This time around, he'll be better prepared.

Meszaros was selected to represent Slovakia on Tuesday for the 2010 Olympics, which will be held in Vancouver in February.

"I'm very happy and I'm very honored. It's always a pleasure for me to represent my country and anytime I get the chance to go, I'll go,'' Meszaros said. "I'm glad the coaches picked me, I mean, it will be my second Olympics, but in Canada it will be special, so it's going to be great.''

Since coming to Tampa Bay last year in a trade with Ottawa that sent a first-round pick along with defensemen Filip Kuba and Alex Picard to the Senators, Meszaros has failed to live up to expectations. He scored only two goals last season before getting shut down for shoulder surgery in March. This season, he's played better in spurts, but not up to the level the Lightning coaching staff wants to see, sporting a team-worst minus-13 rating.

Lightning coach Rick Tocchet hopes participating in the Olympics serves as a confidence boost for the 24-year-old defenseman.

"Hopefully this is the type of tournament that allows him to raise his game, these sort of things can elevate your game and he needs to elevate his game,'' Tocchet said. "We need more for him and maybe this is a shot in his arm that makes him say "I made the Olympic team, maybe I need to be ready because I'm going to be playing against world class players''. So this is actually a good thing as for a coach to have one of your players go into this thing.''

Meszaros said he will take his experience from 2006 in Turin, Italy, and apply it to his next experience.

"The first time I was just really happy to be there, now this time it will be great and I'm sure I'll have more responsibility than I did last time, and I'm just looking forward to the challenge,'' he said.