TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Vincent Lecavalier was a prodigy when Tampa Bay made him the No. 1 pick in the 1998 entry draft at age 18. Mesmerizing one minute, maddening the next, he was too good to sit down but often was too out of control to excel.

At first, he went through coaches – Jacques Demers, Steve Ludzik, John Tortorella – as quickly as some players go through sticks, frustrating them with his offense-only approach, a reluctance to fit into a system, his puckhandling decisions, his temperamental attitude.

Called the “Michael Jordan of hockey” by short-term Lightning owner Art Williams, he instead became the anti-Michael, apparently more interested in individual pursuits than team play.

The Lightning even tried making him the youngest captain in NHL history at 19 in 2000, but with limited success.

Unhappy with Tortorella’s demands that he be a two-way player, he asked the Lightning to trade him early in the 2001-02 season.

Instead, the general manager who shopped him round, Rick Dudley, left and Lecavalier stayed.

Good thing, too, because the Lightning can’t envision being as close to the Stanley Cup as they are now without Lecavalier, the one-time tempestuous teen who has grown into a player seemingly good enough and tough enough to lead a team to a title.

Tortorella, now in his fourth season as Lecavalier’s head coach, is glad both stayed around long enough to see it happen.

“I have been fortunate enough to watch him grow and understand his game,” Tortorella said. “It’s fun. That’s what coaches want to see, seeing a player buying into the team concept, growing up, becoming a man and doing the things not only with the puck but away from the puck to make himself a better player.”

It’s also what his teammates wanted to see, too, including Brad Richards, a Lecavalier teammate dating to their days as 14-year-old amateur players. At one time, Richards probably never thought he would see Lecavalier slugging it out with a player such as Flames star Jarome Iginla, as they did in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals.

“Ten years we have been playing together, so it’s exciting to be in the Stanley Cup final,” Richards said. “To play with Vinny and Marty (St. Louis), no matter who you are, you are going to get the puck and have some good chances.”

Even if it once seemed Lecavalier, now 24, had run out of chances with the demanding Tortorella.

“From three years ago until now, we’re seeing a totally different man,” Tortorella said. “I think some of the other young core of our team is coming along in the same way, and that’s why we have the opportunity to be here.”

Being part of a team that once was the NHL’s worst and seeing it grow into possibly its best has toughened up Lecavalier, too.

He bounced back from an ineffective playoff series against the Islanders to play much better against the Canadiens and Flyers, and through 20 playoff games had six goals and 15 assists. He’s done it while playing with a much more physical style than he did earlier in his career.

“I didn’t produce much (against the Islanders) but I knew if I’d be more physical I would help the team in another way,” he said. “Then things started to turn around. I’m starting to produce a little more. It is important that everybody does a little bit more than their role.”

That’s why, despite requiring stitches from a headfirst slam into the glass by the Flames’ Ville Nieminen late in Game 4, he said there was never any doubt he would play in Game 5 Thursday.

“It’s our job to try to get the most out of him, and you go through some bumps as you go through this,” Tortorella said. “But as players and coaches begin to understand one another, it becomes a process, and that’s what Vinny is going through.

“He isn’t finished yet. That’s the good news about this, there’s more there.”

AP-ES-06-03-04 1452EDT