By ERIK ERLENDSSON 

BRANDON - With no fanfare, no members of the coaching staff looking on and little media attention, Alex Svitov skated for the first time wearing a Lightning jersey.

The 2001 first-round pick laced up his skates Friday and worked out for 45 minutes inside a nearly empty Ice Sports Forum in preparation for a rookie camp that begins Monday.

After enduring a 10-month ordeal in his native Russia as a pawn in a political play involving his hometown team in Omsk and the military, Svitov finally has arrived in Tampa and he plans on staying.

``I am very happy to be here and ready to play with an NHL team,'' Svitov said through goaltending prospect Evgeny Konstantinov, who served as an interpreter. ``I know there is a lot of pressure on me to make the team, but I plan on doing whatever I have to do to make the team.''

For the past six weeks, Svitov has spent time in Phoenix and Toronto trying to get into shape after missing nearly a calendar year. During his ordeal in Russia, Svitov played less than 15 games while he was serving time in the military. He was allowed to skate and work out, but had little game action.

While he is attempting to re-acclimate himself to hockey, he is getting accustomed to life in North America. His English is improving - his vocabulary now includes thank you, your welcome, hello, goodbye and other essential phrases - and the team plans on enrolling him in English classes to help him become comfortable with his new surroundings.

Even though he has spent only a few days in Florida, he quickly figured out how his new team earned its nickname. Summer thunderstorms have turned the sky into a fireworks display at least once a day since he arrived Wednesday afternoon.

``I think that's why the team is called Lightning,'' he said with a smirk.