I’m not crapping on his play. I’m talking about his leadership. Leading by example? If he is leading by example why is nobody else following and playing well. Why did nobody else show up to the game on time? I say leadership and all you can reply is that he played well? He is not a role player ... he is the frigging Captain!
Leading by example is one of several things a leader does. Not the only thing. All the players said the coaching staff emphasized showing up on time. It’s been the talk of just about every interview. Stamkos should be kicking some ass in that locker room.
I for one hold him accountable to his job as Captain. Get your frigging troops ready.
Not all leaders take the Mark Messier approach. There are different styles of effective leadership. I just don't think we have enough evidence from where we're sitting to blame last night on leadership. Great teams have bad nights, and great leaders' teams have bad nights.
The only way we know guys like Steve Yzerman were great leaders is because his teammates said it. You won't see many fiery interviews, and you won't hear stories about him breaking sticks in the lockerroom. But he went on the ice and performed every night at a high level.
If Stamkos had come out as flat as everybody else, I think maybe you could call his leadership into question. Especially if we see it again tomorrow. But we really have no idea what's going on in the room. We only know what we see on the ice, and last night was one of the few nights where it felt like Stamkos actually was being an on-ice leader. So it just seems like a weird time to criticize him for that, given it might have been the most consistently dangerous playoff game he's had (as opposed to sneezing out a point or two) since at least the 2015 NYR series, but, honestly, probably longer.