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Steven Stamkos Comes Of Age

Stamkos family photo

Photo of Steven when he was three-years old playing in a house league at the local rink in Markham, Ontario.

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 15, 2008

Updated: 06/15/2008 12:12 am

NIONVILLE, Ontario - From the moment his mother placed him in a Jolly Jumper, his feet acting like springs propelling him into the air, Steven Stamkos held a miniature hockey stick in his hands.

The training ground soon shifted to the dining room, where shortly after he learned to walk, Stamkos toddled around the carpet, often wearing a pair of diminutive skates while shooting pucks toward a net resting against the back wall.

His hockey skills have come a long way since those early days, as the talented Stamkos sits on the verge of being selected by the Lightning with the first pick in Friday's NHL entry draft at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

Yet the 18-year-old center from the Sarnia Sting remains a humble teenager who still tapes cutouts of swimsuit models and professional athletes on the inside of his bedroom closet door "because Mom doesn't want them on the wall." And while he has received an abundance of accolades for his on-ice accomplishments in recent months, nothing has altered his thoughts of who he is and where he comes from, no matter where he is going.

"He has all the scrutiny of every NHL scout and general manager watching him, things being written about him, he's got traveling, he's got his schooling. And if you met the kid away from the rink or after the rink you wouldn't know that he had any notoriety whatsoever," said Sarnia coach Dave MacQueen, a Lightning assistant coach from 1996-98. "His family has done a tremendous job of helping him become a solid citizen. ... He's a very well-grounded individual."

From an early age, before all the skills were evident and he began to really distinguish himself, Stamkos seemed to find a way to stand out. As soon as father Chris found out he could register his son for hockey at the nearby rink, Stamkos was suited up. He took to the ice like a polar bear to an iceberg, and he caught the eyes of others who were shuffling their kids around the rink.

"I would take my son to the public skates and Steven would be out there in his Toronto Maple Leafs jersey whipping around at 100 miles per hour," said Paul Titanic, Stamkos' coach with the Waxers from ages 9 to 15, recalling the first time he met Stamkos. "His skating ability even then was incredible. Most kids would be pushing chairs around, and here Steven is doing crossovers and flying by people at a public skate like there's no tomorrow."

And a lot of what tomorrow holds for Stamkos is because of what happened in a lot of yesterdays.

Staying Grounded

For all the accomplishments he has attained on the ice, many who know Stamkos rave just as much about his merits off the ice.

Sarnia community relations manager Mark Glavin said when the team recently held a meet-and-greet session at the Sarnia Sports and Entertainment Complex, where a banner honoring Stamkos' gold medal performance at the World Juniors hangs, the line to meet Stamkos wrapped around the building corner. Yet, every child who came up with pen and paper received an autograph, and every parent armed with a camera got a picture featuring a smiling Stamkos with his arm draped across the child's shoulder and a brief conversation. Had the session lasted well into a night, Glavin said Stamkos would have stayed as long as it took to ensure everybody went home with a smile.

"I remember what I was like when I was a kid - I was like that, too," Stamkos said. "I had my idols."

Recently, when Sarnia selected its draft class for 2008, Stamkos contacted the team's top pick, Gregg Sutch, without being prompted to welcome him to the organization. When the team held its end-of-the-year banquet last month, Stamkos opened his speech by welcoming all of the team's 14 draft picks to the organization. He already has signed on to attend the team's summer charity golf tournament - schedule permitting - and he intends to be an annual participant.

"With Steven, you talk about him as a player and as a person, and sometimes people I talk to are probably thinking, 'Come on, this kid can't be that good.' But the bottom line is, he is," said Sarnia general manager Alan Millar, who drafted Stamkos first overall in the OHL priority draft in 2006. "Combine that with his talent on the ice and I'm sure some people shake their head at what I said, but he is very humble. He's a very grounded young man. He loves to play the game. He has a smile on his face all the time. He's very popular with his teammates.

"Steven is just a kid that, people take to him, whether it's at the rink, here with the team or in school, people just gravitate toward him."

Child Prodigy

Just as his on-ice abilities were noticeable from a young age, so was his off-ice understanding of the virtues instilled by his parents.

Hanging on the wall at the bottom of the stairs to the basement in the Stamkos' home is a framed newspaper article from Canada's National Post with the headline "Seven Habits of Successful Kids." Next to a picture of Stamkos as a 10-year-old is a quote given to a reporter who asked about the meaning of being a team player.

"In sports, you have to have a good attitude to play the game," he said then. "You shouldn't always carry the puck or ball end-to-end - pass it up and move, and maybe he'll pass it back to you. Give and go.

"There are some kids who don't pass the puck or the ball, and then you're wide open and they lose it. You've just gotta tell them, 'Nice try, but next time, he was open, so you could pass it to him and we'll have a better scoring chance.' You have to say good things and then they're confident instead of yelling and thinking they can't do it so they won't try."

Stamkos chuckles now when he looks at the framed story, but he is wise enough to know the standard applies as much now as it did eight years ago.

Horse Before The Cart

Stamkos doesn't have the opportunity to spend much time at home these days, so a home-cooked meal and the chance to escape the rigors of the NHL combine for a few hours recently was a treat.

Since returning home from the Czech Republic in January wearing a gold medal around his neck after helping Canada win the World Junior Championships, the demand on Stamkos' time has reached stratospheric levels. At those rare times the demands became too great - he felt so worn down at one point after the World Juniors, MacQueen said Stamkos feared he might have mononucleosis - a quick retreat home to be with parents Lesley and Chris would bring things back to order.

And order is what the Stamkos household is all about.

Tucked away in the back corner of a subdivision a mile down the road from the Markham Community Centre is the ordinary home the family has lived in for 21 years. The family is preparing to move a couple of blocks away, and though there are boxes in the upstairs hallway and a bed set leaning against the wall, the rest of the house looks neat.

But it's not just the pictures on the wall and the family room furniture that are perfectly aligned. Their life is arranged in similar fashion.

Despite everyone telling them their son is set to embark on his NHL career next season, and a return to junior hockey is virtually incomprehensible to scouts, Lesley and Chris made sure Stamkos was enrolled in college courses in the fall in case things don't work out in Tampa Bay.

"We know he's not going to need it, but that's Steven and his family," Millar said. It's like they're saying "we're not putting the cart before the horse, it sounds like we have a chance to go No. 1, and the opportunity to play in the NHL is there, but they are just that type of family that if it happens, great. If not, then we are going to have our ducks in order to make sure everything, whether it's schooling or whatever, is taken care of."

Even daughter Sarah, 16, had to find a job at the nearby golf course after recently scaling back on her soccer and competitive dance commitments.

Ready For Anything

There is little doubt Stamkos will be donning a Lightning jersey shortly after the draft kicks off Friday night. His skill level and all-around game are unquestioned compared to his peers. But it's his well-rounded attributes off the ice that give many who know him the faith that he is ready to take on the pressure that comes with being the top pick in the draft.

That impression shined through when Lightning general manager Jay Feaster spoke to Stamkos for the first time face-to-face during the NHL combine at the end of May.

"He is well-schooled in terms of, he understands the game and the responsibilities of being a No. 1 pick," Feaster said. "I think he's just a great kid, I really do."

Reporter Erik Erlendsson can be reached at (813) 259-7835 or eerlendsson@tampatrib.com.

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