Vinny insists his shoulder is okay

Don't know how many of you saw the game on TV, but if you did, you saw how much Vinny Lecavalier struggled. The star center, though, said his surgically repaired right shoulder is not the problem. "It feel pretty decent," he said.

Lecavalier, who played just two exhibitions before the regular season, had loads of trouble holding the puck, and though it would have been a great play, had the puck role off his stick with 11 seconds left after a Vinny Prospal pass set him up in front of the net.

Lecavalier said the shoulder is still sore, but it is nothing that has to be evaluated, though he said the next few days off is welcome.

Lecavalier was minus-1 with three shots in 19:12 of ice time. He also won 7 of 15 faceoffs; much better than Saturday when he won 4 of 19. But Lecavalier said he still liked his game Saturday better. He said perhaps he was fatigued a bit Sunday.

Whatever the situation, Lecavalier has to be better. It should not be all on him (when the No. 4 line of Chris Gratton, Adam hall and Gary Roberts is the team's best, it's not on one person). But he is the captain and the best player. He has to lead the way.

Comments

[Tortellini]

I think everyone needs to relax about Vinny and the coaches and owners should know better. The problem on this team is defense and coaching. A weak defense will result in a lack of offense. Fix the D and stop blaming your best players.

[Bryan]

Of course he's not 100%, he said so and docs said so. He looks fine though. He'll get the rest of that strength back in the next month or so. I'm worried about our second line doing nothing over the past two games.

Gotta say, defense is playing well considering 45 of the 60 minutes are in the defensive zone.

[rbc]

scratch out need,my bad.

[rbc]

You people need are ridiculous, the mvp line will be fine. Give the team time to play together and get accustomed with each other. The only complaint i do have is they showed no emotion, no crushing hits just looked flat and out of it. Goaltending looked great, defense was not the problem, there was no energy by the team and i dont care if you lose but show some emotion, punish somebody.

[Hockey Chic]

Morning fellow bloggers,

It does not surprise me that Vinny 4 is having a little difficulty with putting it all together. It has been a while since he has been in a game situation.

I have said it before and will say it again once you start feeling normal you push yourself. V4 is a professional and as such this is his job. I would expect nothing less of him and I am sure in the coming weeks we will see the V4 of old.

Hang in there Vinny and listen to your body, not the fans, nor the press. Do what you have to do for you. This is your team and you know what works and does not.

Welcome home guys get some rest and Go Bolts!!

[Ray]

Can't see where you can say this team shouldn't be going anywhere when they have a $54 million payroll.

I think they went out and tried buying a team with older players that don't have the heart (or speed) any longer.

[Don in St. Pete]

V4 played a little defense today which was good. Give him the next 6 days and he'll be back closer to full speed. V4 is not the problem at this point we're lucky he played at all.

[Kincaid]

Can't imagine he is on the ice w/o full medical clearance.

Chill people

[mike p]

DC, lay off vinny! wow man, obviously he's not going to say his shoulder is putting him back because that works to the favour of the other teams (mentally) and also makes him a target for being hit. the ice in prague did seem really crappy and it's his 2nd actual game back...give him a break! thumbs down to that post!

[Tony]

V4 is the least of the Lightning worries...Once he gets his timing he'll be fine.

[jim-nj]

amy- exactly. Ironically against lunqvist and the rangers!!

[Nan]

Vinny would never use his sore shoulder as an excuse. Vinny is not at 100% and the Lightning have said so but they also said his game is coming along. Everyone has to be patient and not push him too hard. I am not sure a guy with a bum shoulder who is not 100% should be playing back to back games 20 minutes each game. A lot of ice time for someone who only played two preseason games and who is not yet on his "A" game so to speak. I can see why he might not mind a few days off now!

[Amy]

I feel bad for the goalies. It's not everyday you can have a .950 save percentage and lose

[Benson]

It'l be over in 30 games. No way to leap frog a bunch of teams especially with parity and 3 point games.
They have to change immediately, no mulligans this year.

[Another Joe]

Vinny4 is fine. He looked great in game 1 and was ok in game 2. I expect it to take 25-30 games for Vinny and this team to get it together.

[Alexandra]

I think that everyone is expecting greatness everytime Vinny touches the puck, but you have to remember what he's gone through and is going through now. He already is pressuring himself enough, we need to have confidence in him and understand that recovery doesnt happen overnight. He is the top man on the team, but he is not the team, he is a member, everyone needs to step up while he recovers.

Damian, you've never supported Vinny, I watched both games and the announcer's said more than once the ice was soft and very evident by the number of great passes VINNY made that his teammates didn't hang on to and as usual he was also playing alot of Defense. Vinny is a leader and just give this team some time they will get it all to-gether.

[Don in St. Pete]

DC, I agree that the Roberts-Gratton-Hall line was our best today. We owned the faceoff circle today and were able to win a lot of offensive zone draws. meszaros and the other defensemen need to shoot the puck. Especially when there's traffic in front anything can happen. I'd like to see R2KIN with Gratton and Hall, and move them up to the 3rd line and get some more minutes. All have above average speed for big guys and have some serious jam. I hope Ranger is ready by mid month as we need him desperately. We need to be quicker to shoot the puck and crashing the net for rebounds. They played a great 3rd peiod today, finally skating like they are capable of. The defense will be of continuing frustration, until everyone gets on the same page.

[Sarasota Bill]

#4 should take his time coming back if he needs to. This club is going nowhere this year and we don't want the primary (only?) drawing card to risk a more severe injury.