OPINION

By Damian Cristodero

updated 2:57 a.m. ET Dec. 19, 2007

Vincent Lecavalier is the best player in the National Hockey League.

No offense to Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, who has captured imaginations with his youth and dynamic skills. But Lecavalier's skills are dazzling, too, and he is bigger, stronger and more experienced and probably plays harder minutes given his physical style and the way he is defended.

He also can take over a game like -- well, as former Devils coach Pat Burns said -- Mario Lemieux.

"I hate to make comparisons because sometimes it's not fair to the player," Burns said during a Lightning game at St. Pete Times Forum. "But the only guy that comes to mind is Mario Lemieux. He can change a whole game and take control of it."

Coaching legend Scotty Bowman, who like Burns lives in the Tampa area, also is on a growing bandwagon.

So is Hockey Night in Canada analyst and former coach Don Cherry.

Fame has taken a while for Lecavalier, who at 16 was tagged as Canada's No. 1 junior prospect. At 18, the talented center became the No. 1 overall pick of the 1998 draft, and he was playing in the NHL that fall.

Expectations for Lecavalier were huge, but so was the learning curve. He especially struggled when John Tortorella replaced Steve Ludzik as Lightning coach midway through the 2000-01 season.

Lacavalier and Tortorella butted heads. Tortorella demanded that the 6-4, 219-pound Lecavalier play a complete game, which included forechecking, backchecking, defending the puck and creating time and space by continually moving his feet.

After Lecavalier played the 2004-05 lockout season in Russia, he couldn't wait to get back and play in Tortorella's system.

Mentally, at last, he was ready to shine.

Lecavalier had a breakout season in 2006-07, when he led the NHL with 52 goals and scored a career-high 108 points. Many credit that to linemate Martin St. Louis, who Lecavalier says forced him to skate harder and faster to keep up.

The league's leading scorer (22 goals, 29 assists and 51 points) protects the puck with uncommon strength and a backside he sticks out like a road block. His shot is underrated, he can fight, and he plays in all situations, including on the first penalty-killing unit.

Lecavalier's streak of eight consecutive multipoint games earlier this season was the longest since Jaromir Jagr's 10-game streak in 1996.

And his desire matches his skills. As Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur says, "You don't get too many guys who are so mobile, who are so physical and want to be so good."

For Burns, nobody matches Lecavalier in the way he imposes his will on a game. After the 27-year-old Quebec native had four points in one period against the Hurricanes, Burns said: "If I was to start a hockey franchise and I had the first pick overall, I'd take Vinny."

"That's really nice," Lecavalier says, "but I have to say there are many good players."

Lecavalier, though, is the best.

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