Sunday, July 11, 2004

Vinny set to go, after Stevie Y says it’s No!

Vincent Lecavalier will join his Tampa Bay team mates with Team Canada, after Wayne Gretzky named him to the line up Sunday. Lecavalier will take the place of Steve Yzerman who informed Gretzky that he felt he would be unable to play in the late summer World Cup of Hockey tournament. Yzerman suffered a serious eye injury in the playoffs and told Gretzky he did not feel he would be able to get the proper training in before the tournament got underway.

Injuries told the story twice for Lecavalier, who jumps ahead of Philadelphia Flyer centre Keith Primeau, as Primeau is still trying to recover from a concussion suffered during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Team Canada training camp gets underway August 20th in Ottawa and so far Yzerman is the only cancellation, though there is still some concern over the status of defenseman Rob Blake. Blake has yet to recover fully from his injured shoulder of last season, should he not be able to go for Team Canada the call will go out for a replacement.

Waiting in the wings, cel phones in hand; are Scott Hannan, Jay Boumeester and Bryan McCabe. The three are the most likely candidates to get a call from Gretzky should Blake like Yzerman not feel 100%.

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