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© St. Petersburg Times, published November 12, 2002
TAMPA -- Pavel Kubina could not recall the last time he was a healthy scratch.
"Maybe when I was younger," the Lightning defenseman said. "But in the last three or four years, I can't remember it. Maybe my first year as a rookie."
Kubina was scratched Monday night against the Coyotes after being benched in the third period of Saturday's overtime loss to the Blackhawks.
"He's one of our core guys. He needs to be for us to be the team we want to be," coach John Tortorella said. "But he just hasn't met the expectations we put on him."
Kubina, 25, has no goals and seven assists and, at minus-3, was one of two minus players entering Monday's game. He had two assists and was minus-5 in his past six games. Not exactly what you want from a player given a two-year, $4.75-million contract.
Kubina admitted that trying to live up to the deal that pays $2.25-million this season has added pressure.
"I signed a great deal and you have to put a lot of pressure on yourself. When I started 10 games, we won seven of 10, I thought I played okay defensively, but the offense wasn't there."
That lack of offense has contributed to a woeful power play that has converted six of its past 64 chances. Twenty of Kubina's 40 goals came on a man advantage.
"Kuby has to be a big part of the power play," Tortorella said. 'I emphasize that. Kuby has to be a big part of this hockey team, and he has played some very good hockey games for us. ... But he hasn't gotten to that level in the last little while, and we've tried a number of different ways. "The last resort you want to do is sit guys out, especially your core people. But if it's not working one way, it's got to be done another way, so hopefully this will try to get him on track."
"I'm upset but that's the coach's decision," Kubina said. "I'm going to watch the games and learn. That's all I can do. ... It doesn't feel good, but there's nothing I can do about it now except work hard."