Vinny Lecavalier had his first conference call with the Philadelphia media over the weekend.
Here's the transcript courtesy of the Flyers:
Vincent Lecavalier conference call transcript
July 6, 2013
Q: Thoughts on joining the Flyers
“I’m really excited. Obviously everything came pretty quickly. I was part of an organization for 14 years so it was a tough few days. But after I talked to Lavi and Homer, I really liked what they have to say and where the organization is going. So that made my decision a lot easier.”
Q: What was your reaction to the buyout?
“I don’t want to say I kind of knew, but Steve Yzerman called me a week before and said they were going to call me in a week, which was Thursday, and tell me if it was yes or no. During that week, it was a lot of thinking. Until he really tells you... he called me in the morning and told me they were going to buy me out. When you hear it, it was tough. Like I said, I spent 14 years in that same organization. My parents, my mom took it pretty hard, my wife as well. We all enjoyed it there and it was a really good organization. But like you said, eight hours later, the day after - there's obviously a lot of thinking of what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. I've never been in that situation before, and that's why I wanted to meet a lot of teams and talk to them and see where I wanted to go.”
Q: On playing with Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds
“I think it'd be great. Their top-six players, and even their whole lineup, is very solid. You look at a guy like Schenn and Wayne Simmonds, they play really hard. I’ve played against them, and they play hard and they're great hockey players. They fit well with the Philadelphia Flyers mold. I’d be happy to play with anybody.”
Q: On speculation about taking less money to play in Philadelphia
“I don’t really want to get into that, but let’s just say Philly, with the meeting I had with them, that’s the place I really wanted to go. I started off with, I don’t want to say a pretty big list, but a list of about 10 teams, and right after I talked with Philly even before any offers or anything, they went right to the top of the list. I just liked what they were saying, and looking at their lineup and everything. I'm going to keep it at that, but they went right to the top of the list.”
Q: Was it anything specific you were told that made you decide that?
“[It was a] combination of things, but I liked Lavi’s point of view on the game. I just like their style of play. They play hard, they play well defensively, but offense is also something they can bring that’s very solid, so I thought I'd fit well in that mold.”
Q: Can you play 18-20 minutes of Peter Laviolette’s up-tempo style?
"I like that better than staying on your heels. I think when you’re on your heels a lot more, you’re not in the game as much, you're not as sharp, as quick. If you're on your toes like the Flyers play, I think it makes you a better hockey player. You're always on the go, you're aggressive in the offensive zone. Obviously you've got to play well defensively, but once you're out of that zone, you're skating and you have to skate. So it makes you skate harder and I think it makes you quicker for those 18-20 minutes.
Q: Have you played wing much? Would you be comfortable there?
“I’d be very comfortable. That’s something I’ve mentioned. I guess they asked me in the meeting if I could play wing, and I said certainly. I’m a lot more comfortable on the right wing, on my off-wing, than on the left side. Right wing for me would be very, very comfortable. Going in on the right side is something that I've always felt comfortable with, so right wing would be really good for me.”
Q: Is it fair to say you prefer center over the wing?
“Well, I can’t say that because I’ve never played wing. But honestly, I would feel very comfortable on the right side. If you watch me in games, if I have the choice or going on the left side with the puck or the right side, I would choose 99 percent of the time on the right side. It's not something that I really worry about, especially when you're being told you might play with Claude Giroux. I’m really open to that and I’d be really excited about that.”
Q: Last year you had three fights and two of them were against the Flyers. Do you walk up to them in camp and laugh it off?
“Yeah, definitely. I think something about hockey is even after the game you’d see them and laugh about it and go shake the guy’s hand. Luke Schenn did text me and said at least we won’t get to fight anymore. That was good news for me, because he's a big boy, he’s a strong boy. In the heat of the moment, things happen, and in the middle of that fight I realized maybe I shouldn’t have.”
Q: Do you feel you have something to prove after you were bought out?
“Yeah. When you get bought out it’s definitely motivation. In my case, with talking to Steve, I think it was the contract structure that would penalize the team if I retired a little earlier than when my contract expired. I think it was more of a structure that would really hurt the Lightning if they did keep my contract. But anytime something like that happens… I guess I want to prove the Flyers right. It’s not about proving anybody else wrong or the Lightning wrong. I feel great. I got hurt this year, I hurt my ankle, and five weeks of that before I hurt it I was playing on it, playing injured. So when I came back from my injury, I felt really good. Honestly, I felt like I was playing some really good hockey, probably the best in five years. I think with Lavi’s style and the players, I feel very confident that I’ll have a really good season and help the Flyers.”
Q: Do you think fans are confused by all the buyouts going on, and wondering why there was a lockout?
“Yeah, I’m sure if you look at just numbers, of course. I’m going to talk for me because maybe teams are different to why they buy out players, but I think the way contracts were structured before that CBA gave them a chance to, like I said before – say with my contract I retired a couple years earlier, it would really hurt that team. I'm not sure it's the case on other contracts, or short term contracts for other players. But I can understand fans looking at those numbers and being disappointed there was a lockout. But I figure it was just to give the teams a chance to start with a clean slate and go from there. With the cap going down, it definitely put a lot of teams in a tough spot this summer for free agency and for players and stuff like that. For the cap to go down, there were teams spending $68 [million], $69 last year, $67… so if you have to go down, the only way to do that is to buy players out.”
Q: As an opponent, what do you think the Flyers were lacking last year?
“Well, we played two games against them, or three, I’m not sure. It was very weird last year. It was a weird year, and I’ll talk for myself here and with the Lightning, I thought we'd make the playoffs. It was a different year. I feel looking at the Flyers and the way they finished, they were making a little bit of a push there. But it's tough when you're in 10th or 11th spot and you have 10 or 12 games to play, it’s tough to get back in. I think they maybe just had a mediocre start, and sometimes with confidence you lose a few games and you get a little uptight. It's that close, I think now, in this league. You need a good start and you need to be in position as quickly as possible to make the playoffs. When you have a 48-game season, I don't think it's necessarily because you have a bad team, I think sometimes you just get on a bad streak and all of a sudden you’re outside looking in. I think that's something that happened with the Flyers. I think by playing against them, they're playing hard. They play hard, it's tough to play against them, and they have a great offense. I truly believe it was just a weird year last year, and I think we'll rebound this year.”
Q: Will you try to be a leader right away?
“Yeah, definitely. I’ll try to bring that in the room. It’s Claude Giroux’s team, and I think he's a great leader. I don't know him that well, but from what I hear, guys just love him and how hard he plays and what he brings to the table. But I'm going to try to bring my experience and what I've been through. I’ve been through some tough years and I’ve been through some really great years. So I'll bring that in the room, and definitely at my age, older players we have to bring that leadership. It's not just having one leader - you need a lot of good leaders to make sure that team goes in the right direction, and I’m going to try to do that.”
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