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Lightning/NHL

Lecavalier must carry a big load

By GARY SHELTON
Published April 23, 2006

OTTAWA - More than ever, the Lightning needs him to be more than ever.

Vinny Lecavalier walks down the narrow corridor, his narrow shoulders squeezing through the crowd, and the eyes of his teammates turn toward him as he passes. There is a hunger in the way they look at him, a pleading. Here on the brink of trouble, a team needs its most talented player to bring a handful of his own.

Tonight, the Lightning needs Lecavalier to be more than a very good hockey player.

Tonight, it needs him to be a great one.

He is a sometimes-brilliant player, Lecavalier. The Lightning needs more than that. He led the team in goals this season. And the Lightning needs more. He scored its only goal on Friday night. Again, more.

Always, it seems, this is the riddle of Lecavalier. He has done a great many things, but he has not done enough. He has never been enough, done enough, tapped enough of his considerable skills. There is too much unused talent inside him, too much unrealized potential.

Frankly, it is about time the Lightning, and Lecavalier, began to demand more.

Given the consequences of going down 0-2 to the Senators, today seems a good time to start.

It is human nature. At the worst of times, a team always looks at the best of players. If Calgary were in this position, the eyes would be on Jarome Iginla. In San Jose, on Joe Thornton. In New York, on Jaromir Jagr.

The difference is this. With those players, you could count on them to be a beast, an animal, in a big game. Every time they stepped on the ice, everyone in the arena would know it.

Finally, Lecavalier needs to be one of those players. Finally, he needs to thump his chest and invite his team along for the ride. Follow me, he needs to say. Then he needs to leave the Senators dizzy from chasing him around the ice.

It is inside of him. No one doubts that. If you watch him in flashes - the games against Philadelphia, for instance - you come away convinced. If you were to splice together a tape of Lecavalier's highlights, it would compare with anyone's in the NHL. No one else has his creativity, his imagination, his flair.

Ah, but the NHL is not a highlight league, and true stardom is not achieved with occasional flirtation. Lecavalier is not great enough often enough to carry a team. There is still less to his impact than the sum of his abilities. There are still too many periods when he disappears into the crowd.

By age 26, Lecavalier was supposed to be in the discussion whenever fans debated the best player in the NHL. He is not. He isn't among the best five or six players, either. Maybe he's in the top 10. Certainly, the top 15.

But when the Lightning takes the ice tonight, are you certain Lecavalier will make his presence known?

No, really, you're not.

You can think of this as a compliment to Lecavalier's promise or as a curse toward its delivery. In sports, however, great players measure up to the moment. There is a mind-set, part arrogance and part selfishness, part hunger and part swagger. It is not enough to be invited to the stars' table; the great players want to sit at the head of it.

With the Lightning, the greatest mystery of the locker room is why Lecavalier has not risen to the level his abilities would suggest. Was he coddled too much early? Was he handcuffed too much later? Does his fire not burn as brightly as others? Has he been labeled the future so long that there have not been enough expectations of the present? Is he too nice a guy to take over the middle of the stage?

There are a lot of possible answers. None is good enough.

In the Lightning dressing room, the eyes aren't only on Lecavalier. There are other players in the room who need to step up. Marty St. Louis, the former MVP, for instance. Brad Richards, who didn't have a good opening game. Ruslan Fedotenko, one of the stars of the last playoff run.

None of them has the talent of Lecavalier. Yet, 38 players had more points than Lecavalier this season. Seventeen scored more goals. Thirty-five goals isn't bad; for a player with Lecavalier's gifts, they are not enough. His paycheck demands more. His franchise should, too.

"I know what I have to do," Lecavalier said quietly after Saturday's practice. "I put a lot of pressure on myself. All of us do. I'm sure Brad does. I'm sure Vinny Prospal does.

"It's a big part of hockey. In the playoffs, everyone talks about the goalies, but scoring the big goals is important, too."

Part of you wishes, at that point, that Lecavalier would have thumped his chest a little. Called his shot. Kicked over some furniture. Part of you wishes he would take this team, and this series, as a personal responsibility. Watch me, he could have said. Stop me, he could have dared.

For the Lightning, somebody needs to stand up. A loss tonight, and the Senators will smell blood. Everyone else, too.

If Tampa Bay is to counter that, it will need a special player. It will need more than pretty good.

And if you glance across a locker room, the bottom line is this. If there is to be significantly more to this season, there will have to be substantially more of Lecavalier.

[Last modified April 23, 2006, 00:50:21]