Tampa Bay Lightning’s Steven Stamkos: A Look at his 2010-2011 Regular and Playoff Season
The Tampa Bay Lightning are on fire this post-season after finally making an entry into the playoffs after a four year drought. The 2004 Stanley Cup winners have been a great team during the regular season. Although during the final moments, they begin to slack and are overthrown before the post-season starts, but not this time. Tampa Bay has done what no one could have ever thought of them doing and that is penetrating deep into the 2011 National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs.
Their success in the playoffs has been because of a few dominating players who have shown a great performance throughout regulation time and in the playoffs, where the act really counts.
Steven Stamkos is one of those players who stand out above all the others when mentioning the game of hockey. His spectacular performance not only raised the Tampa Bay Lightning above the Pittsburgh Penguins in a major bounce back during the semifinals, but has also led them to eliminate the top Eastern Conference seed, the Washington Capitals in a 4-0 clean sweep. As of now, they are resting and taking the extra given time to concentrate and plan on how to continue their seven-game post-season winning streak into the conference finals against the Boston Bruins.
Steven Stamkos was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft as the first overall pick in the first round. Even then, Stamkos was a highly wanted player by the NHL teams for his known performance in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).
The 21-year-old Steven Stamkos, from Markham, Ontario, Canada is a high achiever for his team at an incredibly young age. Throughout the regular 2010-2011 season, Stamkos was the highest goal scorer of the league with a total of 91 points (Ranking fifth overall) which included 45 goals (Number one overall) and the rest assists.
During the post-season, he is currently 45th in ranking when discussing points (11 points, four goals and two assists), but in the playoffs, it is not always about how much you score but how much you give. Opening up opportunities and plays for his fellow teammates has been his main priority since in a playoff series, being selfish does not help any team and the way Tampa Bay has progressed, the chemistry really shows. Stamkos currently leads the league for the past two seasons in terms of goals, scoring a total of 96.
A quick start to the regular season helped Stamkos maintain his performance throughout. He scored 21 goals in the opening 22 games, but remained a little slow during the final 26 games as he only scored four goals in that time frame.
Stamkos scored his first and second post-season goal during game five of the quarterfinal series against the Pittsburgh Penguins which sparked their enormous three-game recovery with a baffling 8-2 victory. Stamkos notched the first during the initial period near the end to extend their lead 2-0 and added a final one in the second period making it a massive 5-0 lead for the Lightning entering the third period.
"This kid has figured out what the playoffs are all about," Tampa Bay Coach Guy Boucher said of Stamkos after game five against the Penguins. "I knew at some point he would because he's got character. I was just hoping it was this year."
There is still a long way to go as they face off against the also-heated-up Boston Bruins who eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers in the latter’s unexpected 4-0 collapse in the Eastern Conference finals. Bruins are just one step away from the Stanley Cup.
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