Players keeping mind games in check

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
Published January 4, 2008

MONTREAL - Brad Richards said the Lightning's slump is one of the most difficult periods he has gone through as a player.

There were other bad times, the center said, such as being last in the Southeast during his 2000-01 rookie season.

"But we were so young and learning how to win and how to be a team," Richards said Thursday. "You just didn't expect this. It's nothing we ever dreamed of, going through a period like this. ... It's a tough thing we have to get out of real quick."

Part of that, Richards said, is having a short memory.

"Mentally, you just have to put it on your shoulders and go out and try to do something and try to start with a clean slate every night," he said. "We've been dwelling on what's happened. We really have to look at it as a new start every night no matter what happens."

Center Vinny Lecavalier said it also is prudent not to look too far ahead.

"We don't want to think about what's going to happen in 40 games," he said. "We want to think about now, one win at a time. That's how you get on streaks. If we do that, we'll get back to where we want to be."

LEARNING CURVE: Goaltender Karri Ramo said he is better for having gone through the process of his first NHL shootout.

"I was trying to do too much," he said. "I was coming out too far. Then, I need to be more patient and not move back too fast and let them make the first move."

Ramo allowed two goals on two shots Tuesday at Toronto, backhanders high to the stick side.

WORLD JUNIORS: There was plenty of talk about the tournament in the Czech Republic.

Ramo, who played in 2006 for Finland's bronze-medal team, lamented his country's 4-2 loss to Canada in the quarterfinals.

"They were fighting," he said. "It just wasn't good enough."

"We invented world juniors," defenseman Shane O'Brien, an Ontario native, said of his country's three straight titles and 13 overall. "Without us, cancel the tournament."

HOME FRONT: Center Ryan Craig and his wife, Jaydee, spent several days at Tampa General Hospital this week with 5-week-old son Carson, who needed hernia surgery to correct what Craig said was a congenital condition.

Craig, not with the team while rehabbing his left knee, said Carson returned home Thursday after surgery the day before.

"Everything is fine," Craig said. "He's healthy as can be."

ODDS AND ENDS: The Lightning fell to a league-worst 3-14-2 on the road. ... Canadiens captain Saku Koivu got his 400th assist.

[Last modified January 4, 2008, 01:14:31]