Lecavalier on track for Lightning opener

Vincent Lecavalier topped the Lightning with 40 goals and 92 points last season. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

With contract talks behind him, Vincent Lecavalier is ready to start a new NHL season, even if it means dealing with some lingering shoulder soreness.

While admitting his rehabilitation from arthroscopic surgery has been painful and difficult this summer, the Tampa Bay Lightning centre is confident he'll be in the starting lineup for the Oct. 4 season opener against the New York Rangers.

"With shoulders like this, every time you do something for the first time, it feels terrible," Lecavalier told the St. Petersburg Times. "It's like the first time I did a pushup four weeks ago. Oh my God. And the next day I could have done 10. You build your shoulder and confidence."

Lecavalier, 28, had surgery April 15 for a torn glenoid labrum sustained April 3 after taking a hit from Washington Capitals forward Matt Cooke that also separated his right shoulder.

"Not being able to shoot like I normally can was disappointing," said Lecavalier, adding he is excited by his progress. "I'm not 100 per cent, but it's getting better, and my shots are getting better."

Lecavalier is due $7.167 million US for the upcoming season before an 11-year, $85-million extension — agreed to in mid-July — kicks in for the 2009-10 campaign.

Lecavalier, drafted first overall by the Lightning in 1998, led the team with 40 goals and 92 points last season, and has compiled 273 goals and 602 points in 710 NHL games.

He won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league's top goal scorer with 52 goals in 2006-07, and was the recipient of the King Clancy Trophy for humanitarian and leadership efforts at this year's NHL awards.

The Lightning finished last in the 30-team NHL in 2007-08 with a 31-42-9 record, even with Lecavalier and former league MVP Martin St. Louis in the fold.

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Lecavalier on track for Lightning opener

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