Vincent Lecavalier

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
CanadaCanada  Vincent Lecavalier Ice hockey player
Vincent Lecavalier
Date of birth April 21, 1980
place of birth L'Île-Bizard , Quebec
size 193 cm
Weight 99 kg
position center
number # 4
Shot hand Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft 1998 , 1st round, 1st position
Tampa Bay Lightning
Career stations
1994-1996 Notre Dame Midget Hounds
1996-1998 Rimouski Océanic
2004-2005 Ak Bars Kazan
1998-2013 Tampa Bay Lightning
2013-2016 Philadelphia Flyers
2016 Los Angeles Kings

Vincent Lecavalier (born April 21, 1980 in L'Île-Bizard , Québec ) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player . The attacker spent 14 seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League , which had selected him in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft in first overall position . With the Lightning he won the Stanley Cup in 2004 and at the end of his career held the franchise records for most games and goals, so that his jersey number is no longer awarded in Tampa . Lecavalier, who was also honored with the Maurice Richard Trophy and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy , ended his career with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings . With the Canadian national team he won the gold medal at the World Cup of Hockey in 2004 and took part in the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Career

Rimouski Océanic (1996-1998)

After playing ice hockey very successfully for two years at the college in Notre Dame, Lecavalier returned to his homeland in 1996 and began his professional career with the Rimouski Océanic . In his first season he achieved a point yield of 103 points and was therefore awarded the Québec Major Junior Hockey League with the Trophée Michel Bergeron as the best rookie striker and the Coupe RDS as the best rookie in the league. In addition, he was selected by the CHL (Canadian Hockey League), the umbrella organization of the three Canadian first-class youth hockey leagues, in the all-rookie team and named the best rookie of the 1996/97 season. In his second season in the QMJHL Lecavalier was able to increase his performance further and scored 44 goals in 58 games and prepared 71 more hits. In the playoffs his team reached the league final, which was lost to Val-d'Or Foreurs . Lecavalier himself came up with a score of 41 points in 18 games. After the end of the season he was elected to the respective First All-Star Team by both the QMJHL and the CHL, and the QMJHL also awarded him the trophy Michael Bossy as the upcoming top pick of the league. Due to his achievements in the past season, he was next to David Legwand as the greatest talent for the 1998 NHL Entry Draft . Although Legwand was ranked # 1 by the NHL scouts, the Tampa Bay Lightning Lecavalier voted first overall .

Tampa Bay Lightning (1998-2013)

After he was drafted, Lecavalier moved to Tampa Bay Lightning in 1998 . He made his NHL debut on October 9, 1998 against the Florida Panthers . He scored his first goal a few games later, on October 25 against the Vancouver Canucks . In February he was named Rookie of the Month. In his first season he played all 82 regular season games, but only managed 28 points. Of the points that were selected as the first overall after him, only Patrik Štefan , who was selected one year after him, performed even worse.

On March 11, 2000, during his second NHL season, at the age of 19 years and 11 months he became the captain of his team and thus the youngest captain in NHL history, although he had to take this role after differences with the Lightning coach, John Tortorella , and faltering contract negotiations with the team's management, surrendered before the 2001/02 season . In 2007 Sidney Crosby took the record as the youngest team captain from him. He finished his second season in the NHL with 67 points. In 2002/03 , Lecavalier continued to improve and played his best season to date (78 points) and was able to qualify for the playoffs with his team for the first time in his career. He was also able to call himself the winner of a division for the first time. In his first playoff series, Lecavalier scored three goals and three assists in a total of eleven games. In November 2002, Lecavalier scored his first hat-trick in the NHL in a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins . Other personal highlights for him were his 100th goal in the NHL on January 18, 2003 against the Philadelphia Flyers , his second 4-point game (3 goals, 1 assist) against the Phoenix Coyotes and his first participation in the NHL All-Star Game .

The 2003/04 season was the most successful season of his career to date. He won the most important team trophies in ice hockey in addition to the Winter Olympics , the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the World Cup of Hockey 2004 with Team Canada . In the playoffs he was next to goalkeeper Nikolai Chabibulin and his teammates Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis to the most important players on his team. At the World Cup he scored the game-winning 4: 3 winning goal over the Czech Republic in the fourth minute of overtime in the semifinals . Lecavalier scored a total of 7 points and finished second in the tournament's top scorer, behind Sweden's and former NHL teammate Fredrik Modin . At the end of the cup he was elected to the All-Star Team and awarded as an MVP .

After the 2004/05 season failed due to a lockout in the NHL, Lecavalier played along with his teammates Nikolai Chabibulin and Brad Richards for Ak Bars Kazan in the Russian Super League. The team finished fourth and took part in the playoffs, Lecavalier contributed 16 points.

Lecavalier with the characteristic "C" as the team captain.

In the year after the lockout , Lecavalier and his team could not build on the sometimes great performances of the two previous seasons. Although he scored 75 points, which was the second best result of his career up to then and in terms of goals (35) even the best season of his career so far, he was only just able to qualify for the playoffs with his team. There Lecavalier with the Lightning had to admit defeat to the Ottawa Senators in the first round . During this season he experienced a mixed Olympic tournament in the maple leaves jersey , which ended disappointingly in the quarter-finals against Russia. Lecavalier himself had 3 assists. 2006/07 Lecavalier completed the regular season with 52 goals and was awarded the Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL top scorer . Overall, he reached 108 points with 56 other assists, the best point yield of his career. He was chosen because of his performance together with his teammate Martin St. Louis in the Second All-Star Team , he was also nominated for the Lester B. Pearson Award for best player of the regular season, which Sidney Crosby won. Both the 52 goals and the 108 points have been a franchise record since then. Lecavalier became the first Tampa Bay player to score more than 50 goals in a season. The same has only been achieved by Steven Stamkos in the 2009/10 season with 51 goals.

In the 2007/08 season , Lecavalier achieved 92 points, the second-best value in his career to date. He also managed to achieve at least two points per game (so-called multipoint games ) in eight consecutive games . He is the first player who has made this after Jaromír Jágr (1996). In his fourth participation in the All-Star Game , he was the first time captain of the Eastern Conference. At least since that season, Lecavalier has been one of the best players in the NHL. In July 2008, Lecavalier extended his contract with Tampa Bay Lightning for 11 years for a total reported salary of 85 million. Furthermore, the Canadian was again appointed captain of the team after the resignation of Tim Taylor . The 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons were less successful for both Lecavalier and his team. The Lightning each clearly missed the playoffs and Lecavalier could not reach the point yield of the two previous years, which was partly due to injuries. For example, he had to undergo surgery on his shoulder in preparation for the 2008-09 season after injuring himself during a check by Washington's Matt Cooke . In mid-January 2009 there were also rumors that Lecavalier would move to his Canadian homeland in Montréal to join the Canadiens . Lecavalier denied these rumors and stated that he would stay in Tampa Bay.

Before the 2010/11 season , Lecavalier had to undergo another operation, this time a minor knee operation. After starting the season rather weakly, Lecavalier broke his right hand on November 11 when checking against Washington’s Karl Alzner . After his comeback, Lecavalier's performance improved and he scored 45 points in 51 appearances. He finished the regular season in third place on the team's scorer list behind Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis. He also reached the playoffs with the Lightning for the first time since he was captain of the franchise again. In June 2013, however, his contract was early paid off by the Lightning (buy out) .

In February 2018 it the Tampa Bay Lightning honored by his jersey number 4 locked .

Philadelphia Flyers (2013-2016)

After the Tampa Bay Lightning had paid off his contract a few days earlier, Lecavalier was briefly available as an unrestricted free agent and was entitled to freely negotiate a contractual relationship with all NHL franchises. Finally, on July 2, 2013, the Canadian decided to work with the Philadelphia Flyers , which had previously paid off the contracts of goalkeeper Ilja Brysgalow and striker Daniel Brière . Lecavalier signed a five-year deal worth $ 22.5 million with the Philadelphia Flyers. The average annual salary is US $ 4.5 million, with the Canadian receiving an additional US $ 2.33 million from the Tampa Bay Lightning through 2027 due to the previous contract payout.

Lecavalier finished his first season in the Flyers jersey with a total of 37 scorer points and scored the 400th goal of his previous NHL career against the Buffalo Sabers in March 2014 . In the play-off first round of his team against the New York Rangers , the Canadian could only record one goal and one assist. At the beginning of the subsequent 2014/15 season , the attacker also had to contend with a low performance and was removed from his team's NHL squad for the first time in his career without injury in December 2014. As a result of his much-criticized appearances as well as a lack of defensive work, the left-handed shooter was mostly used on the wings and with little ice age in the fourth row during the further course of the season. With 12 points from 57 games this season, Lecavalier ended the weakest offensive season of his entire career.

Los Angeles Kings

In January 2016, Lecavalier and Luke Schenn were handed over to the Los Angeles Kings, who in return transferred Jordan Weal and a third-round vote in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft to the Philadelphia Flyers. At the same time, Lecavalier announced that he wanted to end his active career after the 2015/16 season, which he put into practice in June 2016.

Private

Lecavalier attended John Rennie High School in Pointe-Claire, Quebec from 1992 to 1993. He then moved to the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox (Saskatchewan, Canada). There he met his longtime teammate at the Tampa Bay Lightning, Brad Richards. Coincidentally, Richards and Lecavalier were even roommates. Both later played together for Rimouski and were drafted by Tampa Bay that same year (1998). The Lightning played together for years until Richards was transferred to Dallas in February 2008.

Lecavalier supports various charitable projects such as the Vinny Lecavalier Foundation to support families and young people or the Vincent Lecavalier Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.

For his commitment off the ice, he was awarded the King Clancy Memorial Trophy and the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2008.

Lecavalier is married and has a daughter who was born in 2010.

Achievements and Awards

International

Career statistics

Regular season Play-offs
season team league Sp T V Pt SM Sp T V Pt SM
1994/95 Notre Dame Midget Hounds SMHL 50 38 42 80 - - - - - -
1995/96 Notre Dame Midget Hounds SMHL 22nd 52 52 104 - - - - - -
1996/97 Rimouski Océanic QMJHL 64 42 61 103 38 4th 4th 3 7th 2
1997/98 Rimouski Océanic QMJHL 58 44 71 115 117 18th 15th 26th 41 46
1998/99 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 82 13 15th 28 23 - - - - -
1999/00 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 80 25th 42 67 43 - - - - -
2000/01 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 68 23 28 51 66 - - - - -
2001/02 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 76 20th 17th 37 61 - - - - -
2002/03 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 80 33 45 78 39 11 3 3 6th 22nd
2003/04 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 81 32 34 66 52 23 9 7th 16 25th
2004/05 Ak Bars Kazan Super league 30th 7th 9 16 78 4th 1 0 1 6th
2005/06 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 80 35 40 75 90 4th 1 2 3 7th
2006/07 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 82 52 56 108 44 6th 5 2 7th 10
2007/08 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 81 40 52 92 89 - - - - -
2008/09 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 77 29 38 67 54 - - - - -
2009/10 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 82 24 46 70 63 - - - - -
2010/11 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 65 25th 29 54 43 18th 6th 13 19th 16
2011/12 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 64 22nd 27 49 50 - - - - -
2012/13 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 39 10 22nd 32 29 - - - - -
2013/14 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 69 20th 17th 37 44 7th 1 1 2 2
2014/15 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 57 8th 12 20th 36 - - - - -
2015/16 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 7th 0 1 1 2 - - - - -
2015/16 Los Angeles Kings NHL 42 10 7th 17th 20th 5 1 1 2 2
QMJHL total 122 86 132 218 155 22nd 19th 29 48 48
NHL overall 1212 421 528 949 848 75 26th 30th 56 84

International

Represented Canada to:

year team event result Sp T V Pt SM
1998 Canada June World Cup 8th place 7th 1 1 2 4th
2001 Canada WM 5th place 7th 3 2 5 29
2004 Canada World cup 1st place, gold 6th 2 5 7th 8th
2006 Canada Olympia 7th place 6th 0 3 3 16
Juniors overall 7th 1 1 2 4th
Men overall 19th 5 10 15th 53

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Others

In the 2005 film Maurice Richard , Vincent Lecavalier played the ice hockey great Jean Béliveau .

He served as a cover athlete for EA Sports video game NHL 06 .

Web links

Commons : Vincent Lecavalier  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Vincent Lecavalier: On the ice ( Memento from December 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Chicago Tribune : "Hat trick for Lecavalier"
  3. ↑ NBC Sports: "Lecavalier is simply better than Crosby"
  4. ^ The Sports Network : "Lecavalier signs 'lifetime' deal"
  5. ^ ESPN Sports: Lecavalier to have surgery to repair torn labrum
  6. ↑ Sports: Lecavalier wants to stay in Tampa. In: montrealgazette.com. February 1, 2010, accessed November 20, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Lecavalier has minor knee surgery. In: cbc.ca. August 21, 2010, accessed November 20, 2018 .
  8. ↑ lightning.nhl.com, Lightning's Lecavalier To Have Hand Surgery
  9. ↑ NHL.com, Lecavalier Agrees to multiyear contract with Flyers
  10. ^ Articles.philly.com Flyers bench struggling Lecavalier for game against Sharks
  11. ↑ articles.philly.com Inside the Flyers: Lecavalier a bad fit with Berube
  12. ↑ nj.com Flyers' Vinny Lecavalier bewildered over ongoing benchings, hasn't discussed status with coach
  13. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1796526/bio
personal data
SURNAME Lecavalier, Vincent
ALTERNATIVE NAMES LeCavalier, Vincent
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH L'Île-Bizard , Quebec