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EDUARDO A. ENCINAThe defenseman is heeding advice from pal Pavel Kubina, the player whose skates he must fill with the Lightning.
BRANDON - In the weeks heading into Filip Kuba's first training camp as a member of the Lightning, he received some words of wisdom from the player he likely will be replacing on Tampa Bay's defense, Pavel Kubina.
"We're very good friends, our hometowns are close to each other," the Czech-born Kuba said Saturday. "He told me how this camp is really hard and that the style of hockey is going to be different than what I've been used to."
The next few days, Kuba will find out how different the Lightning's hard-charging system is from the defensive-minded system he played in for five years in Minnesota.
Kuba sat out both days of testing as a precautionary measure after April surgery for a sports hernia, meaning Saturday's first day of scrimmages was his first time on the ice during camp. He believes he's nearly back at full strength, despite the fact that the injury forced him to bike instead of run in the offseason.
Today he could get his first real taste of the new system.
After scrimmages at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon, the Lightning will work on a drill in which the defense begins the rush, associate coach Craig Ramsay said, a notion that's somewhat foreign to Kuba.
"It's still early," Kuba said. "I think over the training camp I'll get used to the different style. It's always fun when you're supporting the offense.
Kuba, who had six goals and 19 assists in 65 games with the Wild last season, played in the defensive-minded system of Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire for his first five full NHL seasons. Now he steps into Kubina's role on the first-line defense.
Kubina, who tallied five goals and 33 assists in 2006, was a physical presence and a franchise fixture, but the team was unable to re-sign him under the salary cap.
Tampa Bay made it an offseason priority to get quicker on defense, prompting the addition of free agents Luke Richardson, Andy Delmore, Doug Janik and Kuba.
"We feel strongly that we want our defensemen more involved than last year so that they're thinking about getting up ice all the time," said Ramsay, who coaches the defense. "It's not always that they score or even get a shot on net, but they help create another situation that will allow our forwards to make plays.
"It's going to be something we stress a lot, and it's going to be different for him."
The Lightning hopes Kuba's unique mobility for his size - he is 6 feet 3 and 205 pounds - could end up being a more natural fit for its up-tempo style. The team also believes Kuba's stickwork can help make that first transition pass to the offense quicker. And Tampa Bay signed the 29-year-old to a three-year, $9-million contract in July, $2-million less per season than Kubina eventually received in Toronto.
"I don't know if we expect him to replace the offense that Pavel Kubina brought, but we do believe he has the ability to do more offensively and that he can do that playing within our system," general manager Jay Feaster said. "We think that he can deliver even more offensively than he has thus far in his career."
Does Kuba believe this system might better fit his style of play?
"I hope so," he said. "The toughest thing is probably going to be mental, thinking you have a chance to go but you don't go because if you go you're afraid you might hurt your team. But I think it's easier getting used to playing offensively than it is playing defensively."