Vincent Lecavalier

Vincent "Vinny" Lecavalier (born April 21, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who is currently a special advisor of hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens.

As a youth, Lecavalier played in the 1994 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from the North Shore of Montreal.

Lecavalier played two years of junior hockey for the Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

During his tenure, he quickly established himself as one of the NHL's top prospects.

In his first season with the Océanic, he won the Michel Bergeron Trophy as the QMJHL's top rookie forward, and the RDS Cup as the top rookie overall.

Lecavalier played seventeen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1998 and 2016.

He was chosen first overall by the Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft and was a member of their 2004 Stanley Cup championship team.

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".

He was the captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2000–2001 season and again from 2008–2013 and spent his first 14 NHL seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning before being bought out following the 2012–13 season and signing with the Philadelphia Flyers for $22.5 million over 5 years.

On March 1, 2000, following his sophomore season, he was named captain, becoming the youngest captain in NHL history at 19 years and 314 days (since surpassed by Sidney Crosby in May 2007, Gabriel Landeskog in September 2012, and Connor McDavid in October 2016).

Previously, Steve Yzerman had held that honour, having been named captain of the Detroit Red Wings at 21 years, 5 months.

However, Lecavalier did not fulfill expectations and was later stripped of the captaincy before the 2001–02 NHL season when Lightning management decided he was too young even as a high calibre player.

Around that time, he clashed frequently with head coach John Tortorella.

Tortorella has since noted that Lecavalier matured since losing the team captaincy.

During the 2003–04 NHL season, while Martin St. Louis led in regular season scoring and Brad Richards led in the playoffs, Lecavalier played a key role in the team's Stanley Cup victory, assisting on the Cup-clinching goal.

The record was previously held by Martin St. Louis, who had 94 points during the 2003–04 NHL season.

He was named MVP of the Canadian National Team in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, which Canada won.

During the lock-out which cancelled the 2004–05 NHL season, Lecavalier, along with Lightning teammates Nikolai Khabibulin and Brad Richards, played for Ak Bars Kazan in the Russian Superleague.

Lecavalier was chosen to play for Team Canada at the 2006 Olympics, but returned to Tampa without a medal.

He finished the season with 52 goals, edging Ottawa's Dany Heatley, who scored 50 goals, to earn the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goal scorer for the 2006–07 season.

He won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy in 2007 as the NHL's leading goal scorer.

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.

On March 30, 2007, in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Lecavalier became the first Lightning player to record 50 goals in a season.

During the 2007–08 NHL season, Lecavalier recorded 8 straight multipoint games, being the first to do so since Jaromír Jágr in 1996.

The scoring streak put him first in the NHL scoring race, until he was surpassed by Ottawa Senators' captain, Daniel Alfredsson, who scored 7 points in the final game before the All-Star break.

In the 2007–08 offseason, Lecavalier underwent shoulder surgery to repair a fracture from taking a hit against Matt Cooke of the Washington Capitals.

He underwent another surgery on his left wrist later in the summer.

He was named captain of the Eastern Conference at the 2008 NHL All Star Game.

At the end of the season he was named the winner of both the King Clancy Memorial Trophy and the NHL Foundation Player Award for his tremendous charity work in the community.

On July 12, 2008, Lecavalier agreed to an eleven-year, $85 million contract extension with the Lightning.

His new contract began after the 2008–09 season, and ran through the 2019–20 season.

He was renamed captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning on September 18, 2008.

In mid-January 2009, rumours were swirling around a possible trade which would send Lecavalier to the Montreal Canadiens, his hometown, but Brian Lawton later stated that Lecavalier would rather stay in Tampa Bay for the rest of his career.

Lecavalier confirmed in his own words his preference of playing in Tampa Bay over his native Montreal.

On January 24, at the NHL's superskills competition, Lecavalier received a standing ovation from the Montreal crowd that lasted for 30 seconds when he was being introduced.

Lecavalier underwent season-ending wrist surgery on April 3, 2009.

On January 21, 2013, Lecavalier played in his 1000th NHL game, becoming the 280th NHL player to reach that milestone.

Lecavalier scored 15 points as Kazan finished 4th in the league and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

On February 10, 2018, the Tampa Bay Lightning retired his number 4 jersey.

His record of 108 points was since surpassed by future Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who recorded Art Ross trophy-winning 128 points (41 goals, 87 assists) during the 2018-19 NHL season and holds the record at this point.