“I’ve been doing a lot of Dad-work around the house, hanging out with my two boys Carter and Chase."
Year 15 is in the books for Tampa Bay Lightning captain, Steven Stamkos. This was his tenth year as captain since taking over for Martin St. Louis in 2013-2014.
Stamkos was recently a guest on 'Clearing the Crease' podcast with James Cybulski, Andrew Raycroft and Mike Commodore. He weighed in on his career in the early days and the importance of surrounding yourself with good people. He also touched on Coach Cooper’s ability to communicate at one level and where is law background comes into play. He ended the interview with a little more detail into his fight with Auston Matthews in round one of the playoffs.
“Listen, when you get to the playoffs anything goes.”
“Maybe Leafs fans should be thanking me for that. The Toronto media has been all over Matthews to get physically engaged. Hey, I got him a fight,” Stamkos joked.
The Lightning captain said that while the team wishes they were competing in the Stanley Cup Final, this early break has been somewhat appreciated, both mentally and physically.
“I’ve been doing a lot of Dad-work around the house, hanging out with my two boys Carter and Chase. It’s been nice to spend some extra time with them for sure,” said Stamkos.
“It’s been a long ride the last few years with some amazing playoff runs that we’ve been on in Tampa. As much as we’d love to be playing in the Finals, which we all would, I think the break has been welcomed for a lot of the guys that have been here as long as I have. Just mentally and physically, to have a full summer to regroup and just have a full training session, then get back into it next year hungrier than ever.”
You don't go to the Stanley Cup Final three consecutive seasons without accumulating wear and tear. Entering last year’s Stanley Cup final, the Lightning had won 11 straight playoff series.
GM Julien BriseBois and company are in the midst of another busy summer building the best team they can while addressing the inevitable salary cap shuffle. The Lightning will still enter the 2023-24 season with one of the strongest, most experienced cores in all of the NHL.