Stellar Steven Stamkos

After really roughing up Sidney Crosby yesterday, I thought that I might give another positive shout out to another youngster, who's doing much more than living up to expectations.

I don't even recall exactly which part of our journey this came from, but at the time, I obviously thought that this would make a very pretty shot.  And now that I'm flipping through which picture I want to put up on the blog, once again, this one just really looks like a nice shot.  So there it is.  Awesome!
Back to Steve.  Two years ago at this time, there was very regular talk around the league and through the media, about how Steven Stamkos hadn't earned his way onto the team, wasn't pulling his weight, and didn't deserve to stay on the team.  It would certainly be best for both Steve and the club, for him to be developing in the minors until he was ready.  His coach was in regular battles with the GM on the topic, right up until the point of where he got fired.  To his credit, the GM was sticking to his guns, that he had made this high draft pick, and he was going to play on the big club.  So, he went ahead and hired a coach that was willing to go ahead and give Steve all of the prime ice time, and not beat him up when he didn't flourish.  Boy did that pay off!
From the all-star break in that first season, till today, nobody has scored more goals than Steven Stamkos.  After hearing that he didn't belong in the league all the way through his first season, his second season finished off with him winning the Rocket Richard Trophy, which is given to the player who scores the most goals during the regular season.  Now, 13 games into his third season, he leads the league in goals, points, power play goals, and game winning goals.  Here's a guy that had every opportunity to throw in the towel and pull a Alexandre Daigle (top prospect that never lived up to expectation, and packed it in before even giving it "the old college try").  Instead, he pulls off way more than expected, when he really should have been overshadowed by all-star teammates like Lecavalier and St.Louis.  This guy deserves all of the accolades, while I don't believe that I've seen him getting any lucrative endorsement contracts at all.  Way to go Steve!
I should take a break from the whole thumbs up/thumbs down thing for a few days, but that doesn't mean that I will.

Stay tuned.