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Stamkos' Game And Confidence Have Blossomed

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By MARTIN FENNELLY

mfennelly@tampatrib.com

Published: March 26, 2009

Updated: 03/26/2009 12:07 am

TAMPA - Seen Stamkos?

And how.

Hockey season is winding down. In many ways the end can't come soon enough for the Lightning. Then you see the kid.

He's not a kid anymore.

The billboard has come to life. Suddenly 19-year-old rookie center Steven Stamkos is playing up to advance billing. The shot and speed have always been there, but now his confidence has caught up.

Suddenly Stamkos is everywhere. His scoring streak is at six games. He has eight goals and 15 points in his past 13 games. He had two points Tuesday, assisting on both goals in the Bolts' 2-1 overtime win against Columbus. On the winner, Stamkos zipped a 60-foot pass up ice to Marty St. Louis, and Marty finished. Back to how Stamkos is finishing ...

"It takes time to find your place ... with all the hype and expectations," St. Louis said. "He's playing with a lot of jump. He's hungry."

"It's definitely been a little more fun for me," Stamkos said. "The confidence is there. It's a lot different than how the year began."

It seems like yesterday that Stamkos, the No. 1 pick in last year's draft, could barely get on the ice under then-Lightning coach Barry Melrose, who thought the kid didn't belong in the NHL yet. Turns out it was Melrose who didn't belong.

Stamkos had only six goals through the first 50 games. Now he has 18, just three shy of Brad Richards' Lightning rookie record, and 40 points, 12 more than Vinny Lecavalier managed as a rookie.

The kid has grown and grown, body and mind, from grueling workouts and video sessions.

"His work ethic in the gym has been unbelievable," (still?) interim coach Rick Tocchet said. "He's in there every day. He's probably put on 9 pounds of muscle. It's a 19-year-old we're talking about, too. He's going to be a special player."

There was that night last month, when Stamkos, with his parents at the Forum, became the second-youngest player in NHL history to score a hat trick.

"After how the season started, it was pretty cool," Stamkos said. "The whole beginning of the season was a little rough, coming in with all those expectations, then playing six, seven or eight minutes a night, but people still expecting you to produce. You hear all that, read all that, and it creeps into your head a bit, you start doubting yourself.

"But I knew I had the skill set that got me here. You have to have that little air, that swagger to take an opportunity and run with it. From where I was to now, it's really been night and day."

Seeing Stamkos is believing.

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