Steven Stamkos is truly lucky that he plays for Tampa Bay

[Beneven Stanciano]

This might be the saltiest post I've seen this week.

Well at a certain point these takes get outrageous. None of these guys are lucky about anything, they all worked harder than anyone else their entire lives to get to the top league of this sport where people are competing for the biggest pay-day AND biggest bragging rights. A locker room is such a fickle thing with all the personalties and people and you can see by these posts, it doesn't seem a lot of people have ever been in a top, competitive environment besides Call of Duty tourney maybe. If the average person can't see what someone is contributing to a championship final-4 team, that doesn't mean the player is NOT contributing in some way, it probably means all these people just can't SEE it, so they assume they know more than ownership on down.
Everyone can have their opinion, sure, but people here just piling on the guy like they're such experts, backed up by all these other expert opinions making them feel justified in their thought process.
Seems to be a lot of "I coulda been a contenda", Uncle Rico type attitudes in here. Guess what, y'all selling steak door-to-door and Stamkos is in the show.

Is there an HFBoards User Stat for self awareness?

 

[WarriorofTime]

As a Canadian, I've been saying this forever. Put Stamkos in a big game, as a Tampa player OR on Team Canada, and he disappears.

NO to Stamkos Team Canada 2022

I doubt Stamkos is even in the discussion to make Team Canada. If he was on the roster, it would be for sentiment, not merit.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Well at a certain point these takes get outrageous. None of these guys are lucky about anything, they all worked harder than anyone else their entire lives to get to the top league of this sport where people are competing for the biggest pay-day AND biggest bragging rights. A locker room is such a fickle thing with all the personalties and people and you can see by these posts, it doesn't seem a lot of people have ever been in a top, competitive environment besides Call of Duty tourney maybe. If the average person can't see what someone is contributing to a championship final-4 team, that doesn't mean the player is NOT contributing in some way, it probably means all these people just can't SEE it, so they assume they know more than ownership on down.
Everyone can have their opinion, sure, but people here just piling on the guy like they're such experts, backed up by all these other expert opinions making them feel justified in their thought process.
Seems to be a lot of "I coulda been a contenda", Uncle Rico type attitudes in here. Guess what, y'all selling steak door-to-door and Stamkos is in the show.

Is there an HFBoards User Stat for self awareness?

Nobody is saying he is "lucky" to be in the NHL, they are just saying he is lucky to be in a situation where his team is so stacked that his own mediocre postseason performances don't draw more negative attention. When he retires people will say things like 'scored a lot of goals, won a couple of Stanley Cups, good on him' whereas guys like Joe Thornton and Rick Nash have to carry that "playoff choker" label with them into retirement because they never got their hands around the trophy.

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

Stammer is just ok, Overrated for sure. His nasty injury history is part the reason

 

[ORRFForever]

I doubt Stamkos is even in the discussion to make Team Canada. If he was on the roster, it would be for sentiment, not merit.

Unfortunately I don't think you're right. A lot of rosters have him included. I worry it will come back to haunt Team Canada.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Unfortunately I don't think you're right. A lot of rosters have him included. I worry it will come back to haunt Team Canada.

They will obviously be ok either way (and if they lose it will be because flukes happen, not because their roster wasn't talented enough)

 

[ORRFForever]

They will obviously be ok either way (and if they lose it will be because flukes happen, not because their roster wasn't talented enough)

I just hope he's not there. I've seen enough of him underperforming and I'm concerned he will included on TC2022 and bleep the bed... AGAIN !

 

[Hockeyholic]

He's not been a good playoff performer. No doubt about it.

But most of the series losses have been to better teams.

2011: Boston was better.
2014: Team was decimated with injuries. Terrible goalie.
2015: Chicago was better
2016: Pittsburgh was better
2018: Washington was better imo.
2019: Complete embarrassment. Sweep.
2020: He was injured. They win the cup.

You can say TB won the cup without him. True. But isn't it quite possible that Isles & Stars series never goes 6 games with a healthy Stamkos? TB likely wins in fewer games.

 

[The Gongshow]

Hes sadly just not a big playoff performer. That said he brings alot of leadership and still commands respect from other teams off name sake.

He can still be lethal but he's a trigger man who needs a set up man.

I'm glad he's my teams captain and he's just another great peice in our insanely talented core.

 

[lightningfanqc]

If only he was hitting the net on his one-timers like in the past. His line (except Killorn) is having bad series....Cirelli doesn't look dangerous at all. I'm sad to see a player like Stammer looking average out there. The 3rd line brings way more to the team.

 

[More 2004]

Stammer is a faceoff and PP specialist at this point in his career and with this team that's ok. He absolutely changes our power play, he still has one hell of a one timer.

 

[tabness]

Injuries suck, I feel real bad for Stamkos, he just hasn't been healthy for such a long time, and he just isn't the same player. It is nice to see him trying to help in different ways though, he's upped his proficiency in the dot, and he tries to do more defensively now that Point and Kucherov are the big scorers instead of him.

Also, his highlights/60 last playoffs were probably the highest in playoff history

 

[PromisedLand]

Agree with the OP. He has the NMC though so Tampa is stuck with him until he is a UFA

 

[TampaBayLightning]

I LIKE STAMMER

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Unfortunately I don't think you're right. A lot of rosters have him included. I worry it will come back to haunt Team Canada.

How??? Team Canada dominated while gifting a roster spot to Chris Kunitz. Stamkos is being talked about like he's Andy Wozniewski

 

[ORRFForever]

How??? Team Canada dominated while gifting a roster spot to Chris Kunitz. Stamkos is being talked about like he's Andy Wozniewski

He's never performed in big games - not in Tampa, not in a Hockey Canada uniform. Go back to the World Juniors. Go back to the World Cup or World Championships.

I have no say but I don't want Stamkos, Marner, Hamilton or Tavares on the 2022 team.

 

[aufheben]

He’s playing? I honestly just assumed he was injured.

 

[bov]

Stamkos started out the season by looking like (arguably) the best player on the team, I think for a month at least. People on the TB board were saying he looked as good as he ever has. He cooled off a bit afterwards, but has been noticeably worse since coming back from his latest injury. He looks flat out bad, and there is clearly something limiting him.

I think in years past he has taken too much heat for "disappearing" in the playoffs. He played his ass off in some of those postseasons at both ends of the ice, just wasn't able to create as much by himself which happens to many great players when the opposition is zoned in on him. This year though, he looks truly awful but it has to be health-related.

He has gone through a ton of adversity and very few athletes can deal with such serious injuries (and more) and keep coming back to a high level. I think he's had a remarkable career all things considered, and is as deserving a cup winner as it gets.

 

[majormajor]

Stamkos is not an elite player, at least this time of year.

He's an elite shooter but those juicy shot lanes aren't there as much in the playoffs. You have to be able to score in a crowd, which Point excels at.

Like the first reply said, other teams still need to watch him closely and play good defensive minutes against him. This means that Kucherov (if not on the same line as Stammer), Point and the Triplet line (when that was a thing) can get favourable matchups and score more.

I don't think this is true anymore. I think you game plan for Kucherov and Point a lot more than you do for Stamkos. Stamkos definitely doesn't get the top defenders from the opponent. Kucherov and Point getting favourable matchups? Yeah right.

 

[The Panther]

Stamkos is a good player (of course), and is almost certainly going to be in the Hall of Fame one day.

But he has had a reputation as a "not-so-great" playoff performer for some time now, so this is nothing new.

My impression is that Stamkos has not been much of a 5-on-5 producer since his big leg injury four or five years ago. He was always great on the power play, but two seasons in a row, when he was very young, he led the NHL in even strength goals.

In the past 4 regular seasons (Stamkos has been healthy, more or less), Stamkos is 16th overall in points, but 28th in even strength points.

It's not unusual for scorers in their late 20s to start relying on the PP more for points, but I think Stamkos's "fault" is that he hasn't been able to produce anything much at ES through his career in the post-season. At some point, to make a difference in the playoffs, you need some ES production.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Stamkos was an awesome player back in the day. The only issue was his secret weapon is easy to solve, now he can only use that secret weapon once in a while which means every unexpected time. The team realistically was built around Lecavalier as he mentored Stamkos, but Stamkos's role at this point is still leader and face of the franchise, but all the other players brought up from development were players who each take on a big role and responsibility.

Now, if Stamkos was on another team, say the Leafs drafted him in 2008 if they were the team with the first overall pick, lots of things would be different for both parties. But I imagine the Leafs would remain having playoff troubles. As for Tampa, who knows.

 

[DingDongCharlie]

Only 14 points in 14 playoff games while only being on the wrong side of 30. What a bum

 

[Canes]

Stamkos is the 2nd best goal scorer of this generation so yeah his performances have left a lot to be desired at times but ultimately he can't stay 100% healthy and probably has played through too many injuries as well.

 

[metalan2]

Stamkos is a complimentary star, but makes your team that much better. He's not really a driving force and Tampa can obviously win without him.

 

[Go Bolts]

All of us Lightning fans love and respect Stamkos (will be added to team HOF one day)..................but, it's time to clear his salary and give the 'C' to Hedman.