Recchi waiting for Lightning to strike

It was early Saturday afternoon and Mark Recchi had just gotten off the ice in Tampa Bay.
It was an off-day on the NHL schedule; the Lightning was preparing to play the visiting Boston Bruins on Sunday.
Recchi, who played in his club¹s first 58 games, had been a healthy scratch
for a 4-1 loss to the host Carolina Hurricanes on Friday and he wasn’t
sounding anything at all like a 20-year veteran of the NHL wars who is
preparing to ride off into the sunset and the Hockey Hall of Fame.
It wasn’t that he was grumpy or anything, it’s just that, geez, at this stage of his career he wants to play and he wants to play every game. He doesn’t know how many games he has left, understand, and there’s too much time to think about that when you’re standing around and watching.
Head coach Rick Tocchet said it was a case of wanting to give Recchi a rest because the Lightning had played Thursday night. Recchi said he plays better in the back half of doublebills.
It’s more likely that the Lightning -- a Frankenstein-like experiment in new
ownership, coaching, free-agent signings and trades, almost all of which has gone horribly awry -- is into showcase mode with the trade deadline arriving March 4. The Lightning is 20-28-12 and won’t qualify for the playoffs.
Recchi, who is one of the Kamloops Blazers’ five owners, signed a one-year contract worth US$1.25 million with the Lightning as a free agent on July 8.
The Lightning, under new owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules, was looking for a veteran player who could provide some depth to the roster and some tutoring and mentoring to younger players.
Tampa Bay ended up getting a lot more than that.
Recchi is tied for third in team scoring, with 38 points, including 12 goals, in 59 games. Yes, he is minus-18, but that might say more about the amount of playing time he gets on a team that has allowed 39 more goals than it has scored.
Recchi is averaging almost 17 minutes of ice time (he played 17:49 and scored once in Sunday’s 4-3 victory over the visiting Boston Bruins. His playing time has increased since Tocchet replaced the fired Barry Melrose as head coach.
If things had gone better for the team, if it was in possession of a playoff spot, Recchi would be pleased to stay. At the same time, he hasn’t asked to be traded, nor does it sound as though he will. But he would like to finish this season somewhere else.
”It’s probably going to happen,” Recchi said. “I think they’re trying to retool here. If something comes up, I’m definitely interested.
”I’d like to make another run. Absolutely . . .”
Later Saturday, the Lightning lost veteran forward Chris Gratton on
waivers to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The retooling, it seems, has started.
Recchi, who turned 41 on Feb. 1, feels he has proven that he still can play at a high level. He feels great. His legs are still strong. He now is two points shy of 15th spot on the NHL’s list of all-time scorers. Everyone above that spot either is in the Hall of Fame or a sure thing to be there -- and think about that for a minute or two.
”In that sense it’s gone OK,” he said of his season, and when pressed he refused to bite the hand that is feeding him and his family.
”It’s been quite interesting here though,” he added with something of a
rueful chuckle. “I thought I’d seen most of it . . . I’ve seen a lot of
firsts here this season.”
If he is dealt between now and the deadline, it wouldn’t be a first – four times he has been a late-season acquisition, the last time in 2006 when he moved from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Carolina and helped the Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup.
While there hasn’t been much team success in Tampa Bay, Recchi has played well enough and
feels well enough that, while he won’t make a decision until long after the
season ends, it sounds as though he may hold off the spectre of retirement
for at least another year.
”It’s all going to play into . . . if I do get on a team that makes a big,
long run . . . what happens at the end of that,” he said. “If I don’t get
moved and I finish here, I’ll get a lot of time to recover.”
Still, he hardly sounds like a guy ready to leave his game.
“I’d like to play,” he admitted. “I’ve got friends who keep telling me to
play as long as you can . . . play as long as you can.”
He also is well aware that at his age, there won’t be any going back once he leaves.
”That’s exactly right,” he said. Then he paused, laughed and added: “I’m not
going to pull a Claude Lemieux.”
The 43-year-old Lemieux is back in the NHL after a five-season absence.
Recchi has played hockey longer than he can remember and he admits the thoughts of retirement isn’t something he enjoys.
”It is (scary). It definitely is,” he said. “The fortunate thing is I’ve got
the Blazers and I can concentrate on that. That’s something I can really
focus on and enjoy it moreso than anything. Maybe there’ll be something in
the NHL, too . . . I’d like to stay involved in the game somehow.”
Before then, however, Recchi would love nothing more than to make one more
run deep into the NHL playoffs. He is the proud owner of two Stanley Cup
rings -- courtesy of the 1990-91 Penguins and 1999-2000 Hurricanes -- and really would like one more.
He will find out if another run for the beloved mug is possible over the next few days.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan@blogspot.com