Vincent Lecavalier

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Position	Centre
Shoots	Left
Nickname	Vinny, St. Vincent
Height Weight	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 223 lb (101 kg)
NHL Team	Tampa Bay Lightning
Nationality	Canada
Born	April 21, 1980, Ile Bizard, PQ, CAN
NHL Draft	1st overall, 1998 Tampa Bay Lightning
Pro Career	1998 – present

Vincent Lecavalier (born April 21, 1980 in Ile Bizard, Quebec) is a Canadian professional hockey player who currently plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League.

1 Playing career
2 Awards
3 Career statistics
4 International play
5 International play
6 Personal Facts
7 References

[edit] Playing career

Lecavalier was drafted first overall by Tampa Bay in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, during which new Lightning owner Art Williams proclaimed that Lecavalier would be "the Michael Jordan of hockey."

On March 11, 2000, following his sophomore season, he was named captain, becoming the youngest captain in NHL history at 19 years and 11 months. Previously, Steve Yzerman had held that honour, having been named captain of the Detroit Red Wings at 21 years, 5 months.

Lecavalier was later stripped of the captaincy before the 2001-02 NHL season. Around that time, he also clashed frequently with head coach John Tortorella. Tortorella demanded more accountability from his players, and showed this by stripping Lecavalier of the team captaincy after the young centreman missed the start of 2001-02 due to contract negotiations.

After winning the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004, he was named Most Valuable Player of the Canadian National Team in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, which Canada won. Lecavalier was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2006 Olympics, but returned to Tampa without a medal.

Lecavalier recorded three goals and two assists for five points against the Atlanta Thrashers on December 7, 2006.

Lecavalier broke the all-time Tampa Bay Lightning record for most points in a season by scoring his 95th point on March 16, 2007 against the Buffalo Sabres. The record was previously held by Martin St. Louis, who had 94 points during the 2003-04 NHL season.

On March 30th, 2007, in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Vinny became the first Lightning player to ever record 50 goals in a season. This was also the first time in his career he has eclipsed the 50 goal mark.

[edit] Awards

1997-98: QMJHL First All-Star Team
1997-98: QMJHL Mike Bossy Trophy (Top Draft Prospect)
1996-97: QMJHL Michel Bergeron Trophy (Top Rookie Forward)
1996-97: CHL Rookie of the Year
1997-98: CHL First All-Star Team
2002-03: NHL All-Star Game Participant
2004-05: 2004 World Cup of Hockey MVP

[edit] Career statistics

			Regular Season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1996-97	Rimouski Oceanic	QMJHL	64	42	61	103	38	4	4	3	7	2
1997-98	Rimouski Oceanic	QMJHL	58	44	71	115	117	18	15	26	41	46
1998-99	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL	82	13	15	28	23	-	-	-	-	-
1999-00	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL	80	25	42	67	43	-	-	-	-	-
2000-01	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL	68	23	28	51	66	-	-	-	-	-
2001-02	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL	76	20	17	37	61	-	-	-	-	-
2002-03	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL	80	33	45	78	39	11	3	3	6	22
2003-04	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL	81	32	34	66	52	23	9	7	16	25
2004-05	Ak Bars Kazan	RSL	30	7	9	16	78	4	1	0	1	6
2005-06	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL	80	35	40	75	90	4	1	2	3	7
NHL Totals			547	181	221	402	374	38	13	12	25	54

[edit] International play

Played for Canada in:

International statistics

Year	Comp	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1998	WJC	7	1	1	2	4
2001	WC	7	3	2	5	29
2004	WCH	6	2	5	7	8
2006	Oly	6	0	3	3	16
Senior Int'l Totals		19	5	10	15	53

[edit] International play

Played for Canada in:

International statistics

Year	Comp	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1998	WJC	7	1	1	2	4
2001	WC	7	3	2	5	29
2004	WCH	6	2	5	7	8
2006	Oly	6	0	3	3	16
Senior Int'l Totals		19	5	10	15	53

[edit] Personal Facts

Attended John Rennie High School in Pointe-Claire, Quebec for two years ('92-'93) before transferring to Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Saskatchewan. Has been best friends with fellow Bolts' center Brad Richards, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2004 as Most Valuable Player of the NHL Playoffs, since the age of 14, when they met at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, a boarding school with an excellent hockey program, in Saskatchewan, Canada. They were roommates and became good friends. Since then they have gone on to being teammates in the Rimouski Oceanic and Tampa Bay Lightning. They are currently living in adjoining buildings in Tampa Bay. He also had a minor appearance in the recent movie Maurice "the rocket" Richard, he plays the role of hall of famer and former Montreal Canadien Jean Beliveau in the film. In Tampa Bay, Lecavalier wears uniform number 4 to honour the great Jean Beliveau.

[edit] References

Preceded by Joe Thornton	1st Overall Pick in NHL Entry Draft 1998	Succeeded by Patrik Stefan
Preceded by Chris Gratton	Tampa Bay Lightning captains 2000-01	Succeeded by Dave Andreychuk
Preceded by Markus Naslund	EA Sports NHL Cover Athlete NHL '06	Succeeded by Alexander Ovechkin
Preceded by Jonathan Cheechoo	Winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy 2007	Succeeded by incumbent

Note: Lecavalier was named captain (after Gratton was traded), late in the 1999-2000 NHL season. Lecavalier was later stripped of the captaincy after the end of the 2000-01 NHL season. It was decided by Lightning management that he was too young and had had enough pressures even as a star player.

v • d • e

National Hockey League first overall draft picks

Monahan • Gauthier • Veilleux • Gibbs • Pagnutti • Plasse • Houle • Perreault • Lafleur • Harris • Potvin • Joly • Bridgman • Green • McCourt • Smith • Ramage • Wickenheiser • Hawerchuk • Kluzak • Lawton • Lemieux • Clark • Murphy • Turgeon • Modano • Sundin • Nolan • Lindros • Hamrlik • Daigle • Jovanovski • Berard • Phillips • Thornton • Lecavalier • Stefan • DiPietro • Kovalchuk • Nash • Fleury • Ovechkin • Crosby • Johnson