Steven Stamkos

Who would have ever thought, even four years ago, that Stamkos, 32, would be putting himself in the conversation of one of the greatest all-time captains? There’s certainly an argument to be made, especially after this postseason, in which the one-time sniper has inspired with his shot-blocking, his scoring and his speeches. “He’s been our heartbeat,” teammate Pat Maroon said.

Stamkos is playing better today than he did two years ago,” Wayne Gretzky said. “When your captain is playing like that, everyone just grabs onto the rope. They see him working like that, they have no choice.”


Messier sees similarities between the career arcs of Stamkos and Yzerman, with the two elevating their two-way game as their careers went on in order to get over the hump and win a title. When the most important thing in your career becomes winning, it’s transformative.

He’s played with a lot of grit,” Potvin said. “He’s so deadly with his shot. When you’ve got a player that garners so much attention, you know someone else is going to be open. I like his leadership, let me put it that way.”

Teammates say that Stamkos isn’t one to yell or scream a ton, that a lot of his talks are more of a calming influence.

“Take a breath,” he would say. “We’ve got this.”

But the most emotion some have seen from Stamkos was during the second intermission of Game 6 against the Leafs in the first round series. Tampa Bay, facing elimination down 3-2 in the series, had given up two late goals and trailed by one heading into the third. Their season, their historic run, was on the line. They say Stamkos didn’t even get to his locker-room stall before he started talking.

“We’re not done tonight,” Stamkos told them. “It doesn’t end tonight.”

Haters gonna hate, but Stammer is one of the best captain ever.

oui