Lecavalier shines in debut

The 18-year-old rookie catches everyone's eye with fancy play.

Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier, right, sticks close to Gord Murphy. [Times photo: Joseph Garnett Jr.]

By TOM JONES

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 10, 1998

UNRISE -- Did you see that move?

It's all anyone was talking about during the first intermission of the Lightning's season opener Friday night against the Panthers.

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Team executives were asking. So were broadcasters. And scratched players. And anyone else who happened to be wandering around the stuffed press box of the new National Car Rental Center. The move didn't produce a goal. Heck, it didn't even produce an official shot on goal. But it did do one thing: It showed the Lightning might have itself a star in No. 1 pick Vincent Lecavalier, playing his first NHL game.

Late in the first period, Lecavalier took the puck, burst into the Panthers zone and turned defenseman Jaroslav Spacek into a lamp post with a fake to the left, then a move to the right. By the time Lecavalier was finished, Jaroslav Spacek looked like Sissy Spacek.

Lecavalier only could take a stab at the rolling puck, but he still put enough on it to beat Florida goalie Sean Burke. The only thing that stopped Lecavalier from scoring his first goal was the goal post. Then again, the rookie didn't need to make a move to show he has arrived. A couple telephone calls did the trick.

"Five to seven (Friday) morning, I got a call in my room from a radio guy in Montreal asking me to get Vincent on the phone," coach Jacques Demers said. "(Thursday) night at the team meeting at Ruth's Chris (Steak House), he got a call from another reporter. We have to do something."

Starting Friday, Demers did something. All out-of-town interview requests for Lecavalier must go through the Lightning's public-relations department. When the team travels to Montreal and Ottawa -- both near Lecavalier's home -- Lecavalier will do just one news conference. And no calls will be put through to Lecavalier's hotel room on the road.

"I don't mind dealing with the media, I know it's part of the job," Lecavalier said. "I kind of like it."

So much so he missed the bus Friday after the morning skate. He missed it because he was doing (what else?) an interview. Not the way to start your first NHL day, but Lecavalier just laughed it off.

"I'm nervous, but not like scared nervous," Lecavalier said. "More like excited. I'll probably be nervous when I play my first game in Montreal, but I won't be like shaking or anything. To me, playing in my first exhibition game was worse." That's the way Lecavalier is accepting his latest celebrity status. Nothing is a big deal. Not the interviews. Not the money ("Actually, I haven't gotten paid yet," Lecavalier said.). Not anything.

Still, Demers said: "We have to protect this kid, especially off the ice."

On the ice, Lecavalier's protection will be provided by tough guy Sandy McCarthy.

"I know part of my job is to make sure he gets a little more room out there," McCarthy said. "If someone messes with him, I know I have to just go over to the guy and let him know that I'm watching."

After Friday and after the move that turned Spacek into jelly, now everyone is watching.