"I don't always fight people. But when I do, I prefer they be very high draft picks." -Steven Stamkos, probably.
While he might not actually be the Dos Equis beer "Most Interesting Man in the World" pitch-man, you have to admit, Steven Stamkos has had a pretty interesting career. From his junior scoring exploits that led to him being drafted first overall in 2008 and the "Seen Stamkos" marketing campaign, to his two Rocket Richard trophies on the back of fifty and sixty goal seasons, to his multiple injuries and health issues that threatened to derail his career, Stammer has seen it all during his 1000+ game, two Stanley Cup career. And while he has mostly used his hands for potting 500+ goals (plus another 45 in the playoffs so far), Stamkos has not been afraid to use those sweet hands on the occasional face of an opponent.
Don't get me wrong; Stamkos is an infrequent fighter. With seven fights through fifteen NHL seasons, he'll never be categorized as a hybrid fighter-scorer such as Brendan Shanahan or his former coach Rick Tocchet. He's shown a willingness to stick up for himself and his teammates, inevitably firing up his bench as he shows a captain's willingness to sacrifice himself while sending a message to the opponent.
But you've got to admit: he picks his spots.
The high draft picks that Stamkos has collected on his fight card would be the envy of any NHL general manager. Starting with his first NHL scrap in 2008, lets take a chronological look back at the Lightning captain's fights.
Fight #1: November 26, 2008, versus Nikolai Zherdev, New York Rangers.
In his first NHL tussle, Steven Stamkos lays a heavy hit on Ranger Nikolai Zherdev, pasting him into the Madison Square Garden boards. Zherdev, the 4th overall draft pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2003, follows Stamkos to the other side of the ice and the two drop the gloves. It's a spirited fight, with both guys throwing a lot of punches before tumbling to the ice. This was the first career fight for both men.
Fight #2: March 22, 2015, versus Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins.
Stamkos waits a loooooong time to engage in his second fight-- six and a half years, in fact. And this time, he's not sticking up for himself, but going after Brad Marchand for a submarine hit on the Lightning's Valtteri Filppula. This comes during Stamkos' first full season as captain of the Lightning (he got the "C" late in the 2013-14 season after Martin St. Louis decamped for New York), and reflects Stammer's desire to be a more complete leader. As for Marchand, as a 3rd round choice (71st overall), he's one of the lowest picks that Stammer has scrapped with, but since he's already regarded as a potential Hall of Fame choice, we'll forgive Steven for dipping so low in the draft pool.
Fight #3: February 24, 2018, versus Karl Alzner, Montreal Canadiens.
By 2018, Nikita Kucherov had emerged as a major offensive force for the Lightning, and when Karl Alzner lines him up for a knee-on-knee hit at center ice, Stamkos wastes exactly zero time dropping the gloves with the Canadiens' defenceman. The fight doesn't amount to much more than some hugging and dancing, but again we have Stamkos stepping up to send a message not to take liberties with his teammates. Alzner, a former fifth overall pick of the Washington Capitals (2007), understands.
Fight #4: March 30, 2018, versus Pavel Buchnevich, New York Rangers.
Following the theme from his fight a month earlier, Stamkos drops the gloves immediately after an opponent takes down Kucherov with a low hit. This time he dirties his hands by scrapping with another mere third round pick (75th overall in 2013), but it's a captain doing captain stuff. In addition to the fighting majors, Buchnevich gets two for tripping and Stammer gets the minor for instigating. This is a wilder fight than the Alzner tilt, but I don't feel great about Stamkos banging his million dollar fists off Pavel's helmet.
Fight #5: January 30, 2019, versus Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins.
A brief bout between two elite centers. This one starts with some stick work and mutual cross-checks that escalate until Stamkos drops the gloves with the Penguins' second overall pick from 2004. Malkin only gets one glove off before the combatants drop to the ice.
Fight #6: June 9, 2022, versus Alexis Lafreniere, New York Rangers.
Something tells me that Steven Stamkos doesn't like the Rangers. This scrap, the first in NHL history between two former first overall draft picks (Lafreniere went #1 in 2020), came out of a post-whistle scrum at the end of a Lightning win. Stamkos absolutely rocks the younger player with a right hand before scoring the take-down.
Fight #7: April 22, 2023, versus Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs.
Fun fact! There have only been two fights in NHL history between former first overall draft picks, and Steven Stamkos has been in both of them. Auston Matthews, the Maple Leafs top pick in 2016, had never been in a fight in his NHL career at this point, which may explain why it takes him so long to start fighting back. The fight comes after a hit in which Morgan Reilly takes the Lightning's Brayden Point hard into the boards. Kucherov jumps Reilly, setting off a brawl that involves Stamkos swinging wildly on Matthews, who doesn't seem to know what he's supposed to do before the pair stumble to the ice.
So, in summary, Steven Stamkos has been in seven NHL fights, and his opponents have included two first overall draft picks, a second overall, a fourth and a fifth overall, and two third rounders. Unquestionably the highest end fight card you could imagine, with the possible exception of Matthews' fight card. After all, he's been in only one fight, and it was against a first overall pick: Steven Stamkos.
(Primary assist goes to hockeyfights.com, where I researched this article, with a secondary assist from hockeydb.com).
In all of sports, is there anyone more famously superstitious than hockey goalies? There are the obvious legends, like Patrick Roy talking to his goalposts and Glenn Hall barfing before every game. Those two Hockey Hall of Famers might be excessive cases, but NHL 'tenders are notorious for their adherence to routine and ritual. Some might consider this superstition (gotta put each piece of equipment on in order, gotta do this, gotta do that), while many likely consider it a way of building focus and eliminating distracting variables. So what happens if something has to change? Does it affect the player's focus? Does it affect performance?
In Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final, with the Tampa Bay Lightning trailing the Colorado Avalanche three games to two in the series, we saw a fascinating case of a goalie dealing with a sudden equipment change with a quick goal to follow. The goalie in question was Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Lightning's dominant superstar netminder.
The Lightning started the second period of the must-win game up 1-0 off a goal from Captain Steven Stamkos. Although the Bolts were dealing with several injuries and at times looked over-matched by the deep and talented Avalanche, they held the edge in shots 10-8 through the first period, and importantly, had the edge in goal: the Avs' Darcy Kuemper was having an average-at-best post-season and was definitely beatable, while Vasilevskiy was coming off two straight Cup wins including a Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, and was considered virtually unbeatable in elimination games.
But early in the second period, something was off.
After an initial minute of back and forth play, the Avalanche were working behind the Lightning net. The puck went into the air and Vasilevskiy reached back and caught it, stopping play at 18:24. He then skated to the bench, indicating there was an issue with his mask. He handed it over to the trainer and skated back to the Lightning crease with his spare mask, slid it on, and squared up for the faceoff.
Eighteen seconds later, Nathan MacKinnon put a laser one-timer under Vasilevskiy's arm, changing the momentum of the game.
It would be unfair to MacKinnon and the Avalanche to suggest that Vasilevskiy's mask issue contributed meaningfully to the goal; after all, the Avs held the zone, made several shot attempts, and Bowen Byram set MacKinnon up to unleash a blast that few goalies would have any chance of stopping.
NEVERTHELESS.
The timing is more than coincidental, and if there are any goalies capable of stopping MacKinnon's shot, Vasilevskiy is certainly among them. He made other seemingly impossible saves in the same game. Saying a different mask contributed to the goal would be silly superstition, but saying that the distraction of a gear change mid-game affected his concentration by even a single percentage point is reasonable. And a single percent can make the difference with players at the level of MacKinnon and Vasilevskiy.
From a Lightning fan's perspective, wondering what would have happened if Vasilevskiy's mask did not require service is enough to drive you crazy: naturally, the Big Cat would have made a stunning save on Mackinnon, momentum would have stayed with the Bolts, and they would have won the game 1-0 before winning Game Seven and collecting their third straight Stanley Cup. Right? Right?
That might be going too far. But, honestly, this has been keeping me awake at night all summer and I had to get it out of my system.
I hope it hasn't been keeping Vasilevskiy up. He needs his rest for the coming season.
(Does a backflip onto a stack of crates in a warehouse by the docks wearing a green leotard covered in question marks)
"Riddle me this, Batman!"
(poof! Smoke-bomb, disappears, then reappears in the rafters)
"What team can go on a two game winning streak While never once winning during either game?"
(Batman shoots the Riddler with a gun and is then arrested by Gotham police)
The answer to the riddle, of course, is your Tampa Bay Lightning.
Through three games, the Bolts haven't yet held a lead, losing the first game ugly, giving up huge leads in the second game but catching up before winning in overtime, and finally
FINALLY
showing a bit of competence and structure in Game Three, holding the Caps to a single goal (Ovechkin's second was called back) and winning again on a goal from Captain Stamkos, yes, in overtime.
The good news, of course, is "a win is a win," and this game represents progress and the boys are starting to get it together and things are starting to click
and all the other clichés, such as how you've gotta bank these wins early in the season if you wanna make the playoffs.
But I'm not worried about making the playoffs. This team has won two straight championships (as I will point out again and again and again) so making the playoffs is a low bar beneath consideration unless multiple significant injuries hobble key players for long stretches (knocking wood until my knuckles bleed).
What matters is escaping the lethargic form of the first game or the discombobulation of the second and finally putting together a sixty minute game against a quality opponent.
And speaking of injuries, Nikita Kucherov left in the second period after an apparent knee-bump with Washington's Garnet Hathaway and Lightning d-man Jan Rutta left the bench in the second.
Significant players, yes. Can the Lightning manage without them? Also yes-- even with offseason losses, the team has depth.
But you hate to see it.
A hard-fought win with the Bolts shutting down their opponent?
The first time I made predictions for a Lightning season was in the fall of 1993. The Bolts had just completed their inaugural season, and my group of high school friends, none of whom really cared about sports, got heavily into hockey by playing EA's NHLPA '93 on Mike's SEGA Genesis. That was the last edition of the game to feature fighting, and there were very few players in the game that had a 100 rating for the fighting statistic: Bob Probert in Detroit, Tie Domi in New York, and Basil McRae in Tampa Bay being the only three I can recall us finding. Brent claimed Detroit, Mike took New York, and I took Tampa Bay. It didn't matter that Detroit and New York were both stacked and Tampa Bay was like, a 2/10 level team, because I sucked at video games and wasn't going to win anyway. I just wanted a team with a good fighter, so even if I lost every game, I could still win something.
Anyway, we all got hooked, bought sticks for road hockey, bought hats and sweaters of our teams (although Mike switched to the Leafs), and I started looking forward to the NHL's 1993-1994 season. I picked up a magazine with the previous season's stats, opened a notebook, and recorded my predictions for each player. Brian Bradley had 42 goals last year, so he should be good for 50 this year. John Tucker had 17, so let's say 25. I went through the roster, and predicted that each player would increase his offensive output by 20-50%, which was a disaster, since 1992-1993 was an offensive high water mark for the NHL, before the drudgery of the oncoming trap era. Only one player achieved the goal total I set out, that being Danton Cole, who jumped from 12 goals in '92-'93 to 20 in '93-'94.
Needless to say, I was a poor prognosticator.
But making guesses about other people's achievements is fun, so I'm going to do it again right here. These are my predictions for the 2021-2022 Lightning season.
Nikita Kucherov: Kuch will return to his humorless, taciturn ways, eschewing the shirtless, beer-fueled and profanity-laden press conferences, while scoring at a league leading level. After his performances in the last few post-seasons, it's fair to assume he'll be able to return to his regular season form of 2018-2019, when he led the NHL in scoring. He'll finish in the top three for points, and only gets shirtless and silly again if the Bolts win the Cup again.
Steven Stamkos: He's only 31 years old today, but it feels like he's played for the Lightning forever. He's not the scoring threat he once was, and he'll likely spend a good deal of time on the third line, but he'll still easily hit the mid-thirties in goals with all his power play goals. Much respect, captain.
Anthony Cirelli: Gonna give Tony the ol' Danton Cole treatment and predict he'll get his first 20 goal season in the NHL. He hit 19 back in 2018-2019, and with a full season to play, a 20 dollar bill should be easy. Sixty points, too. Get out there and be great, bro.
Brayden Point: He'll be dashing this season-- both fast on the ice and a handsome devil too. A point-a-game should be the minimum for Big BP; he's a big-time machine. Will he one day have a hundred point NHL season? Yes. This year.
Victor Hedman: I think Heddy will also get his first 20 goal season. Why not? There's nothing this man can't do.
Mikhail Sergachev: He wants to be the best defenseman in the League, and I respect that confidence. He'll hit 40 points this year.
Andrei Vasilevskiy: He'll get 40 wins or more.
Brian Elliott: He'll get maybe 10 wins?
Jon Cooper: Can you believe this guy has never won coach of the year? I guess it's because his team is always so stacked with talent, and the award usually goes to some geek that wrings a great total out of a team that was expected to be a disaster, but sooner or later Coop will get the "career achievement" Jack Adams Award. Will it be this year? Yes, This year.
As for everyone else, just take their points per game average from last season, average it over 82 games, and add 20%. I'm in a good mood tonight. I saw a rainbow after walking in the rain. I'm optimistic.
In my forties, I don't function well on less than eight hours of sleep, and my current work schedule has me up at six-thirty. I'm usually in bed shortly after ten, even if it means missing the end of the game.
After putting the kids to bed, I checked the score. It was 4-2 Wings, which was a slight improvement on the 3-0 I saw when I started the put-to-bed process.
I made a joke about how many empty net goals the Wings would score and I went to sleep.
I missed a lot.
Unable to watch the game, I missed out on Detroit's resident anti-vaxxer Tyler Bertuzzi putting four goals through Andrei Vasilevskiy including a sick display where he split Sergachev and Hedman with a between-the-feet pass to himself and another where he flew out of the penalty box and pounced on a deep puck--
--imagine scoring four freaking goals and having your team still lose the game--
--and I missed Steven Stamkos score two quickies on the power play the second coming while they were still announcing the first.
But most of all what I missed was the Tampa Bay Lightning using their ludicrous wealth of offensive talent to overcome their sloppy defensive play.
This game is only a marginal improvement over the home opener against the Penguins, but a win is a win, and goals are always fun to watch.
But tell me--
--did you possibly expect the defending champs to allow TWELVE GOALS in their first two games?
Phil Esposito, the fiery hero on the ice, was never one to play his cards close to his vest.
Now, generations removed from playing the game himself, he sits in the media box at Amelie Arena, providing color commentary on Tampa Bay Lightning games, watching the players of the franchise he founded as they bumble and stumble, botch passes, lose face-offs, and ice the puck again and again.
And just like during his days as a center for the Blackhawks, Bruins, or Rangers, Espo can't hide his emotions.
His commentary on the game, as the Bolts, after watching the banner of their 2021 Stanley Cup Championship being raised to the ceiling in a pregame ceremony, clatter their way around the ice en route to a 6-2 loss, is decidedly that of a sad old uncle, shaking his head and repeating "what a shame, what a shame," unable and uninterested in hiding the disappointment in his voice.
Lightning Coach Jon Cooper, his freshly-inked and well-earned three-year contract extension in his pocket, watches his charges chase the Penguins around the ice, unable to find their legs or form,
while the Pens, missing core players like Sidney Crosby, Gino Malkin, Jake Guentzel, and more, beat them with hustle and structure.
Six minutes remaining, Lightning down three-zip (coulda been a lot worse if not for Andrei Vasilevskiy in the home net), and Coop says let's go for it: he yanks the Big Cat for the extra attacker,
and the Bolts get one from Anthony Cirelli!
followed by a Pens empty netter
then the Bolts get one from Killorn! They're clawing their way back
followed by a Pens empty netter,
followed by a third Pens empty netter.
6-2 Pens is your final, the last five goals of the game coming with Vasy on the bench. A clumsy, uninspired performance to open their championship defense, accurately summed up by Captain Stamkos:
"A dud."
The Lightning return to action on Thursday in Detroit.
Frozen Sheets Hockey was a blog I ran for a few years starting around 2009, covering the Tampa Bay Lighting. I ran it as a creative writing project, introducing goofy characters in fictional settings to provide wacky opinions on the team's ups and downs. The unconventional writing style drew the eye of Raw Charge, SB Nation's Lightning blog, and I started writing there as well for a while. Frozen Sheets had some success and was an active part of the Lightning's blog-o-sphere for a few years until fatigue, shifting interests, and time constraints reduced the frequency of my posts. I eventually gave the whole thing up.
Until now?
I'm bringing it back this season, with a focus on writing game recaps in free verse poetry, which is something I enjoyed in the last stretch of the blog's existence. Whether I do more than that, or even if I can keep up with that... well, just like the Lightning's fortunes this season, we'll see how it all plays out.
The Lightning have won two consecutive Stanley Cups. They've changed some pieces, but they are still stacked and have a good shot at winning a third. Does that serve as a season preview? That will be enough. The season starts tomorrow with the banner raising ceremony at Amalie Arena in Tampa before the Lightning host the Pittsburg Penguins. The Pens will be without Sidney Crosby and Gino Malkin. Will they be any good? Will the Lightning? We'll see.
Steven Stamkos will take part in the whole banner ceremony. He's the old man on the team now, the captain. When I was doing this the first time around, he was the rookie, the kid being held out of the lineup by Coach Rick Tocchet so he could watch and learn, and get in some reps in the weight room. I don't miss those days. The team under OK Hockey's ownership was a fiasco. Things are better now. But the chaos made for some funny blog posts, I guess. Will it be funny this time? I don't know. We'll see.
I'll be back with a recap of the Lightning-Pens game soon. We'll see how the Bolts do, and how I do. Peace.
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