Finally, it is time to return from yet
another self-imposed writing hiatus. This one dragged on a bit
longer than normal and featured a couple of posts that died before
they had a chance to live. Lucky for you I am feeling rejuvenated and
raring to go again. Of course I have no idea what to write about so
I'll kick it off by leaning on a semi-regular crutch – The
Lightning Card of the Week!
A once regular feature that has been
mothballed (much like boxing coverage and Through The Mail posts) due
to sheer laziness I figure it's a good way to keep writing with the
lull between the end of the season for the Bolts and the upcoming
draft/free-agency season. Let's see what the box of hockey cards has
in it:
A 2001-02 Upper Deck Tantalizing
Tandems Vincent Lecavalier/ Brad Richards insert.
Look at those two – so young, so
unaware of their careers would take them (they haven't even starred
in “The Punisher” yet. Just two kids from Canada having fun
playing hockey in Tampa. When the card was issued Vincent had
finished his third full season in the NHL, scoring 20 goals in the
regular season for the second year in a row (a streak that would
continue for 12 seasons) and was the youngest player to ever be named
captain of a NHL team (Sidney Crosby and Gabriel Landeskog have since
stolen that accolade).
Richards was the dynamic rookie who had
lead the team in scoring in his first full season and finished second
in the Calder Trophy race. This was the year that the original “Big
Three” of Lecavalier, Richards and a young cast-off from Calgary
named Marty St. Louis played together for the first time. The nucleus
of the 2004 Stanley Cup team was born that year.
On the back of the card, the copy
writers for Upper Deck wrote that “Tampa Bay will look to young and
talented centers Brad Richards and Vincent Lecavalier to ignite the
offense” and that the team was “hoping to be one of the most
improved teams in the NHL in 2001-02”.
The Lightning did improve their record
in 2001-02 by winning three more games over the year before. Oddly
enough their offense actually decreased year-to-year. The 2000-01
squad scored 201 goals while the 01-02 team only scored 178. While
Richards submitted numbers that were almost a carbon copy of the year
before, Lecavalier struggled as he only scored 37 points under the
burden of the captaincy.
The notable change was on their defense
as the 00-01 defensive corps surrendered an unconscionable 280 goals
(which is what happens when Kevin Weekes, Dan Cloutier, Wade Flaherty
and Dieter Kochan occupy time in the crease). The next season would
be the first full season for the enigmatic Russian Nikolai
Khabibulin. With the “Bulin Wall” in net only 219 pucks would
cross the Lightning goal line.
Richards and Lecavalier were both
fresh-faced 20-year-olds when this card was first inserted its mylar
wrapper. Over a decade later, they are now gray-haired veterans
wearing uniforms for other teams. Richards, reunited with St. Louis
in New York is currently battling for another Stanley Cup. Quite a
turnaround from a year ago where he was a leading candidate to be
bought out after being benched in the playoffs. Lecavalier fell
victim to the amnesty buyout sword in Tampa and struggled through
another injury-plagued season in Philadelphia. He did, however, knock
off a bevy of career accomplishments by scoring his 400th
career goal, his 500th career assist and 900th
career point during the 2013-14 season.
As for me, I was living the good life
in 2001-02. I had just bought my truck (man I miss that truck) and
was still living in a one-bedroom apartment in the heart of Largo,
Florida. I was working at the Super Happy Fun Company making more
money than I should have while not saving anywhere near enough. My
game-day attire probably would have been shorts, sandals and a
Lightning name-less third jersey (the one with the lightning bolts
down the sleeves). Tickets to games were unbelievably cheap. So cheap
that scalping them wasn't necessary. I'm pretty sure I was
single.....yup definitely single.
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