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Stamkos Is The 1

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 21, 2008

OTTAWA - Steven Stamkos watched from his seat in Scotiabank Place stands as the Lightning contingent of front-office staff and ownership stepped up from the team's draft table and made their way to the NHL entry draft stage.

Stamkos' heart skipped a beat.

New team owner Oren Koules, in his first and only public act to this point with the team, then stepped behind the podium and announced he couldn't think of a better way to "kick off a new regime" than to select ... Koules paused ever so slightly.

Stamkos' heart skipped two beats.

Even after all the talk leading up to the moment and all the drama having been taken out of the selection, the 18-year-old center still had butterflies right up to the moment his name was announced by Koules as the first selection in the 2008 NHL entry draft.

"I was a little jumpy there when they took their time getting up to the podium, but when I heard my name called, I couldn't be happier coming to the Tampa Bay organization," said Stamkos, who was also the first pick by the Sarnia Sting in the 2006 Ontario Hockey League draft. "I can say it now, that was the team I wanted all along. I had to play it a little political there for a while, but no more ifs, ands or buts, it's official now and I'm so excited."

The Lightning are equally excited to be able to add a player the caliber of Stamkos, who scouts most often compare to Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic, to the organization. While he scored 58 goals in 61 games this season for Sarnia and his offensive skills are unquestioned, it's the well-rounded aspect of his ability and willingness to play at both ends of the ice that helped establish his spot as the No. 1 prospect available. Tampa Bay general manager Jay Feaster said players such as Stamkos don't come around very often.

"I think his potential is he can be a legitimate star player in the National Hockey League. That's not what we expect right off the bat, but I think when you look 10 years down the road, he's going to be something special," Feaster said. "I think one of the things that sets him apart is that at 18 years old he already recognized the commitment needed in his defensive play. And I also think it goes to his hockey sense that he understands if you make that commitment defensively that you are going to get the puck back. I just think it's one of the things that separates him is the fact he is committed defensively."

Ever since Tampa Bay won the draft lottery April 7 and retained the first pick, Feaster said the intention all along was to select Stamkos, as evidenced by a Web site - www.seenstamkos.com - the team put together to promote the fact they owned the top pick in the draft. Feaster said the marketing campaign was not put together to put any undo pressure on Stamkos, but simply to get fans excited about the player.

"We are in a football market and if it was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and they picked somebody from Podunk State and out of three divisions everyone would know him, you wouldn't have to do an awareness campaign, but that's not the reality that we have," Feaster said. "So it was never about, let's heap the burden of the franchise on the next Michael Jordan of hockey and the next sure-fire hall of famer. All this was about was an awareness campaign to make people think, who is this Stamkos kid?

"Now you can go to a Web site and you can actually see some clips and say 'Wow, that was pretty cool,' that's all it was meant to be is a fun thing. Steven himself had fun with it. But there are some people I guess in the blogosphere who really overthought this thing to put pressure on him. There's no pressure on him, it was never meant to be that."

With little doubt in his mind where he would be heading, even playing the politician when asked about his eventual NHL destination, Stamkos was able to take a relaxed approach to the events of Friday despite the magnitude of the day. Following breakfast with some friends, Stamkos hit the gym for a workout "just to get my mind off things," grabbed some lunch and a nap before heading to the rink. After his name was called, he seemed to hug just about every one of the family members or friends sitting in his row before heading to the stage.

"This has been a whirlwind day and it's something that I'm never going to forget," said Stamkos, who swapped out an 08 Lightning jersey for one with his familiar No. 91 by the time he hit the interview room. "It was a great experience, my ultimate dream has come true. I'm just trying to take it all in and savor it as much as I can."

Stamkos, who is already penciled in to center the second line, is stepping into a situation as a top overall pick not expected to be a savior of the franchise. With Stanley Cup championship experience already in the room, he said he is looking forward to finding his way around his first NHL season.

"You look at the skill level they have there with Vinny Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis and Dan Boyle, and some young guys coming in ... a couple of years ago they were the Stanley Cup champions," Stamkos said. "They really didn't deserve to finish where they did in 2008 with some fluke injuries there. I don't really think I'm coming to a rebuilding team. I think I'm coming to a team that has a lot of great talent that can be turned around pretty quickly. So I'm really looking forward to joining that."

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

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