Los Angeles Kings centre Vincent Lecavalier tries to score on San Jose Sharks goalie Martin Jones during Game 5 on Friday.Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press
It was in the handshake line following last Friday's playoff loss to San Jose that a couple of Sharks players gave the Los Angeles Kings' Vincent Lecavalier some friendly, if unsolicited advice.
"A few guys were really nice about it – they said, 'Don't retire, keep playing,'" Lecavalier said. "Some of those guys, the younger guys, said they watched my career.
"I've had a lot of good moments. One of the best is winning the Cup, but to get a second chance at playing when you think you might not play again was great, too. This was just a really good experience for me, the last three or four months."
Lecavalier made it official Sunday – he was retiring after a distinguished 18-year career in which he won the 2004 Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the 2007 Rocket Richard trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer. Lecavalier – the first player chosen in the 1998 entry draft – played 1,212 regular-season games and scored 949 points. He added 56 points in 75 playoff games.
Lecavalier, who turned 36 this past Thursday, joined the Kings in a midseason deal with the Philadelphia Flyers, where he'd played only seven games this season and had become a spare part on a rebuilding team. The Kings wanted him for his playoff experience and his ability to win faceoffs, after they'd lost two veteran centres from their championship teams – Mike Richards and Jarret Stoll. Coach Darryl Sutter was a long-time fan of Lecavalier. Sutter coached the Calgary Flames in 2004, where they lost the Stanley Cup final to Tampa and Lecavalier, who set up both goals in the deciding seventh game.
Following Friday's defeat at the hands of the Sharks, Sutter had nothing but praise for Lecavalier, calling him "a really good role model for some of our younger players, a champion. He was a pleasure to coach."
Lecavalier was equally thankful to the Kings for the chance to resurrect his career, after it looked as though he would spend the season, watching from the sidelines in Philadelphia.
"I think back to November, I was talking to Luke [Schenn] and I said, 'I may be stuck here.' I'm not playing. Getting a chance to play on this team, obviously, we didn't go where we wanted at the end of it, but to get a chance to play and have fun and to learn, it was just a great time.
"I always had that confidence deep down I could still do well. This is a great team. I know they're going to win again, just by the way they act and the way the leadership group and the talent they have."
The Flyers paid half of Lecavalier's contract, which carried a $4.5-million (U.S.) annual salary-cap charge, but the trade also included an important caveat. Lecavalier promised to retire at the end of the season, no matter what happened, because of salary-cap considerations. With six pending unrestricted free agents to deal with this summer, including Milan Lucic, who they expect to sign to an extension, the Kings made it clear they couldn't accommodate Lecavalier's contract going forward.
Lecavalier has three children – aged 3, 4 and 5 – and said he planned to stay in California until the end of the school year, at which point he will move back to Tampa, where he spent the first 14 years of his career and developed strong roots in the community.
"Montreal's home, but Tampa feels like home as well," Lecavalier said. "There are probably 10 guys from when I won the Cup that are there now, growing the youth hockey. I see it here. I ask people: 'Wow, has it always been like this? This program is unreal.' My son's been playing. They say, 'It's happened in the last four or five years' – and that makes sense. The winning makes hockey get bigger, and then the Kings get involved. That's what teams have to do to grow the game – have good programs for the kids. They do a great job here and obviously, I'm going to try and help in Tampa for sure."
As for what the future holds, Lecavalier said he needed more time to process that. The end came sooner than he expected, or would have liked.
"When I was 24 years old, people would say, 'What are you going to do after hockey?' and every time I'd say, 'I'll figure out when that happens.' I still haven't figured it out, but kids keep you busy and I've got three kids and they're at a young age, so it's a busy house right now.
"Family's the most important thing for me, and we'll see after that."