Tampa, Florida					Monday, September 06, 2010

A Band of Brothers on Ice
Friday, April 2, 2004
TAMPA—Monsieur Vincent Lecavalier has a birthday coming up—only his 24th, on April 21, but my, what a life this gifted young athlete has led, and how much more living awaits him, and those who will share the adventure with him. This is the fine talent who at barely 18 was the best hockey player of his age group anywhere, making it easy for Tampa Bay Lightning Founding Father Phil Esposito to draft him No. 1 in the world of that sport. On the other hand, Lecavalier was joining the worst team in the National Hockey League in 1998-99, which remained the worst his second year, but began to improve so that this 2003-04 of Lecavalier and his playing pals now is in the hunt for the designation as perhaps the best in the NHL. Yes, it may well be another sports story the Worst to First. And, Mons. Lecavalier has had plenty to do with that growth, and with the unparalleled success of this wonderful Lightning season. No, his maturation into the elite of hockey did not come as swiftly and defined as some hoped, and predicted, but Lecavalier has become—as the French Canadians might say—a humdinger of a hockey player at both ends of the ice, and in the middle, and points in between. In part, this was because of the vastly improved quantity of players of the Lightning colors, and partly because of the determination to be better by Monsieur Vincent himself, as well as the grit and guidance of a coach who surely did find out and teach him what he needed to know and to apply—tough guy mentor John Tortorella. It was a well known part of the awakening of Lecavalier that he and his coach had tough times to tough out and they did that. Now, they and the Lightning fans, the rest of the team, investors and St. Pete Times Arena pubic address announcer Paul Porter, are going to bask in even more opportunities to benefit from the emergence of Lecavalier and his associates. Announcer Porter, too? Yes, he now can string out that name as he so loves to do when he is called on to drone: “Vin---cent Laaaay. . . . Cavvvvv…eh . . . Ley….yaaaa….’’ That is so because this wonderfully balanced, cat-quick, enduring, and selfless Band of Brothers on ice has skated and scratched its way into the Stanley Cup Playoffs at such a winning pace as to win home field advantage throughout as the best in the east—or, as one headline writer of skill wrote, the Beast of the East. And right there with them in grand moment of advanced to the big stage is Mons. Lecavalier who has come to epitomize—well, haven’t they all, though?—that description of being balanced, cat-quick, enduring and selfless. See, what happened to Mons. Vincent is that he accepted, as he has become a graybeard, that he needed to play defense as well. Tortorella made that clear, even at the risk of it not working, or Lecavalier not changing. But, he has and that means he has become all the better team player, all the better individual player and a leading member of all the better Lightning team. It was a risk taken by both, but, when it worked, both won. And, add this, maybe there is something-at least in part—to the sports contention that if you play hard all the time, not loaf, you are less likely to be injured. Lecavalier has missed little time, in fact few have. In fact, this a bigtime reason for the great	Lightning season—few to easily the fewest in the NHL—injuries this season. In fact, someone was wondering if any team ever has lost so little playing time to injuries. But, we all know Lightning opponents—if there are those of bad character—may play with more verve and viciousness as they seek to push deeper into the playoffs. It seems to be a given by those who know more that goals will come harder, falls will be harder, defense will be a key, and defense means close checking of the most likely scorers—like the Monsieur, Mons. Martin St. Louis, Brad Richards, Fredrik Modin, Cory Stillman, Ruslan Fedotenko, Dan Boyle, Tim Taylor, Nolan Pratt, Andre Roy, Chris Dingman, and especially Capt. Andreychuk, 41, who hides in the shadows of the enemy pipes, and suddenly appears to sneak a puck being an unsuspecting rival tender. It’s a beautiful thing, Lecavalier sweeping goalward, taunting by moving the puck on stick back and forth before him, as it is to see the venomous Andreychuk, at the other end of the age change from Vincent, using not speed, but wiles for his contributions. But, those are not the only ones in this Band of Brothers on skates. All in uniform are, all are contributors, of course, as are the staffs of Tortorella, and of President Ron Campbell, and talentman Jay Feaster who stole Stillman earlier in the year and more lately Darrly Sydor to help in this unprecedented Lightning surprise. And, that includes goalies Nikola Khabibulin and John Grahame, who will be expected to turn their effectiveness up a notch or two from recent levels. As for Lecavalier, well, he’s on track now from the high expectations set for him when he arrived to join the worst team in the NFL. He arrived with an owner, Art Williams, proclaiming him an instant cure, a Michael Jordan now, heaping all the more on his big, broad shoulders. Now, at this grand old age of 23, going on 24, Vincent and his brothers are surely peaking. And for Lecavalier, and his mother and father and friends, it’s a reward deserved, to go with the good life of this good young man. I mention he is 6-4 and 210 pounds of muscle, and a lefty whose work with the stick and the puck on his skates is artistic, flabbergastingly unpredictable. He is a magician with the puck on his stick and he is flying goalward, arms flailing and the goal-tender in his sights in big trouble. Breakaways are a speciality. One on ones he loves. Did I mention he has earned already over $20 million, that he drives a red Ferarrai (the only color for that speed machine) and a Hummer. Did I mention his first car was a Porsche—not too shabby either—that his parents are here for the hockey season in a place they have at Saddlebrook, or that he has a condominium not far from his work place at the ice plant, and another place in Montreal, where he is most admired and appreciated? Did I mention he is a bachelor, that he loves golf and admires Tiger Woods the most, and that he is unfailingly cooperative, a genuinely nice man on a Band of Nice Men, who would do a lot for the sport if they can continue this miracle in progress? The truth is, what this is all about is a nice guy (and his pals) fishing first—so far—VIN----CINT . . . Leh. . . Oh, I’ll leave that to announcer Paul Porter….he loves it so. ##
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