Sophomore slump? Lightning's Stamkos strikes 43 times

Turns out the strong finish told a lot more about Steven Stamkos than the weak start.

Good thing for the Tampa Bay Lightning, since it has translated into the 20-year-old center becoming the face of the franchise -- not to mention one of the NHL's most dangerous offensive forces -- a lot faster than what might have been reasonable to expect. If nothing else, that's something upbeat for the Lightning to hang on to as another demoralizing season winds down.

Stamkos has grown stronger and smarter in only his second pro season. (US Presswire)

These days, Tampa Bay is all but officially playing out the string after being the thick of the playoff race in February. The coach and general manager have acted as though they are at odds since the team was sold at a steep discount a few weeks ago, and rumors about inevitable offseason changes are all over the place. Yet with less than a dozen games to go, the Lightning still have a positive storyline to follow because Stamkos is challenging Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby -- who are tied at 45 -- for the goal-scoring title.

Stamkos remains the long shot in that race, but with 43 goals and a league-leading 19 on the power play, he has built dramatically on what was a respectable, if hardly eye-popping season in 2008-09 for a first overall draft pick. And along with the irrepressible veteran Martin St. Louis, Stamkos has brought the right kind of attention this season to Tampa Bay, elevating his game enough for coach Rick Tocchet to name him an alternate captain last weekend.

"He represents the young guys well and deserves to wear the A," Tocchet said. "He's an emerging young leader who has done a nice job of it this year."

Being a focal point is the role Stamkos has seemed destined for since the team drafted him first overall in June 2008. Stanley Cup winners Vincent Lecavalier and St. Louis were still around, but the team's new owners built their first marketing campaign around a much-hyped teenager who few -- if any -- in the area had ever seen play, and effectively portrayed him as a savior of a franchise that had been heading south for several seasons.

Problem was, they left Stamkos to a hand-picked coach who decided the best way to develop the youngster was to shatter his confidence. Barry Melrose lasted only six weeks doing that, yet managed to undermine Stamkos enough to create doubts about him, limiting the rookie's ice time and playing him mostly with third- and fourth-line players.

There wasn't just one reason the Lightning were in a mess when Tocchet took over, but as the door was hitting him on the way out, Melrose made sure to tell everyone that he felt Stamkos should still be playing junior hockey.

"It was a tough situation because there was a lot of turmoil and I didn't know how to react to it," Stamkos said. "I wasn't playing a lot, so I wasn't able to do what I was capable of doing and I started to doubt myself a lot. My confidence just wasn't there."

Apparently it didn't return immediately after Tocchet took over behind the bench. Stamkos was used to being a star on every team he played for since he was a kid, but Tocchet provided him with the dubious sensation of being a "healthy scratch."

In the second half, though, the sessions that resulted from Stamkos charting defensive zone coverage and watching video started paying dividends. Stamkos picked up 21 of his 23 goals last season after the All-Star break and has scored more than anyone in the NHL but Ovechkin since then.

"A lot of it has to do with confidence," Stamkos said with a shrug. "I started playing more in the second half and feeling part of the team and it went well. So did the world championships and the summer, and I knew what to expect this year, so you come in with the confidence both physically and mentally. It's part of the learning curve."

Part of that curve, anyway. Like most young players, Stamkos needed to work on his play without the puck. This season his positional play is drawing kudos and favorable comparisons to legends Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic.

"He's very offensively gifted, but what I'm most proud of about Stammer is his play away from the puck," linemate St. Louis said. "Before you get to this level, you play with the puck the whole time because you are just better than everybody else. But here you don't have the puck a lot and you have to figure out how to play without it. I think that's the biggest thing that he's done this year."

Stamkos has gotten stronger, too, the result of an intensive offseason training regimen with former NHL player and fitness freak Gary Roberts. That's made Stamkos more difficult to knock off the puck and has made his quick release even more dangerous.

And he says he has learned to think the game better, being aware of the puck and finding ways to get open. Being smarter on the ice is what Stamkos calls it. And maybe smarter off the ice, too.

"Everyone always waits for the sophomore slump," Tocchet. "Well it's obvious he's thrown that theory out the window."