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No holiday rush evident for young Lecavalier

The 20-year-old doesn't seem too worried about a seven-game scoring skid.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 26, 2000

TAMPA -- Vinny Lecavalier insisted nothing has changed.

The Lightning center said his attitude is good. His concentration is still there. He's getting his shots. He's getting his chances.

So why isn't the puck going into the net?

"I'm going through kind of a tough time right now," he said.

Lecavalier is tied with Brad Richards for the team lead with 28 points, and his 14 goals are two behind team leader Fredrik Modin. If Lecavalier stays on that pace, he will finish with personal highs of 35 goals and 70 points. But he has no goals and two assists in his past seven games and hasn't scored since a Dec.6 loss to the Flyers.

If the 20-year-old is worried, he doesn't show it.

"During a year, there are ups and downs," he said. "There are times everything goes well, and there are times everything doesn't. It's part of hockey."

Maybe so.

But when a player is labeled a future superstar and the team concentrates almost all its marketing efforts around him, expectations rise, sometimes disproportionately. That the Lightning is 2-8-2-1 in its past 13 games magnifies inconsistencies.

"And that's not fair," general manager Rick Dudley said. "He's a kid. The best veterans, 30-year-old veterans, don't score every night. He's capable of being one of the best in the game."

"He's the best 20-year-old hockey player in the world," coach Steve Ludzik said. "He will be the best player in hockey when he reaches his potential, and he's one of the reasons we have stayed competitive."

Lecavalier plays about 22 minutes a game, more by far than any other Lightning forward. He has played more than 27 minutes twice in his past eight games.

It is a taxing pace, made tougher by facing opposition fully aware of Lecavalier's capabilities.

"Of course you're going to have to pay attention and stay on him," Devils forward Bobby Holik said. "You have to give him less room than other players because he's so talented with the puck."

But sometimes talent isn't enough. A little luck, or a few bounces, wouldn't hurt, either.

Thursday night against the Penguins, Lecavalier had a late chance to break a 1-1 tie. But the puck bounced off his stick in front of the Pittsburgh goal.

In Saturday night's 5-1 loss to the Devils, goaltender Martin Brodeur made a wonderful stop in the first period of a quick Lecavalier backhander.

Brodeur was a Grinch again in the second period as he slid his stick across the ice to stop Lecavalier's one-timer from just left of the slot.

Maybe tonight, when the Lightning faces the Hurricanes at the Ice Palace, those chances will be buried.

"After a game, it's very frustrating," Lecavalier said. "Sometimes I think I could have scored the goal if (the shot) was harder. Next time maybe I should shoot a little more, or have better concentration on the ice."

Dudley has encouraged Lecavalier to hit more to better get into the flow of a game. He also wants Lecavalier to work a little harder on his faceoffs.

Lecavalier has won 45.2 percent of his draws (313-of-693) -- 50 percent is considered good -- and took just four of 13 against the Devils.

Lecavalier has improved noticeably on defense. After 12 games, he was a brutal minus-13. In his past 21, he is plus-1. "If you're not going to score, make sure you're even or better," forward Martin St. Louis said.

Lecavalier hopes he will get better by staying on an even keel.

"It's not really a down. I think I'm playing pretty good," he said. "What I'm trying to do is not change my attitude, not to be negative when things are going bad, always be positive I just have to work harder."

"It's up and down," St. Louis said. "Sometimes you just need that one goal to get out of a slump."

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