--Center Vinny Lecavalier underwent successful surgery on his right shoulder in early April. Lecavalier had surgery to repair a torn labrum suffered in the next-to-last game of the regular season when he was hit by Washington's Matt Cooke. The procedure was performed by renowned orthopedic specialist Dr. James Andrews at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. Lecavalier is expected to require 12-15 weeks to recover from the injury and should be at full strength by the time training camp opens in September.

--A handful of Tampa Bay players will be participating in the World Championships, scheduled to begin May 2 in Halafax, Nova Scotia. Among the Lightning players who will represent their countries are Jeff Halpern (USA) and Marty St. Louis (Canada), while Jussi Jokinen (Finland) and goaltender Karri Ramo (Finland) are under consideration. In addition, Tampa Bay head coach John Tortorella and associate coach Mike Sullivan will guide Team USA.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"He is an impact player, a player who is ready to play in the National Hockey League... As we approach the offseason, we felt that we had to bring in a minimum of two top-six forwards, maybe even three. So to have the opportunity to have the No. 1 pick in this draft, have that player that we think is NHL-ready be a forward, again, that's a real nice position for our franchise to be in, to be able to look at that player at this stage." -- Lightning general manager Jay Feaster, speaking about 18-year-old center Steven Stamkos, the consensus No. 1 pick for the upcoming entry draft -- in which Tampa Bay holds the top pick.

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