Lighting Insider exclusive interview with Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, part one

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
April 19, 2017

BRANDON, Fla. For five months, Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos spent countless hours working his way back from knee surgery that cost him all but 17 games of the season.

For most of that time, Stamkos worked behind the scenes and out of the public eye, doing extensive rehab with the medical training staff of Tom Mulligan and Mike Poirier. As the season came to a close on April 9, Stamkos did not get back to full health and was unable to find his way back in the lineup.

So with the season now in the rearview mirror, Stamkos is zeroed in on putting everything that happened this season behind him and focused on getting ready for the 2017-18 season. The rehab will continue all through the summer and he will be back to 100-percent when training camp comes around.

Before he leaves town for the summer, Stamkos granted LightningInsider.com an exclusive interview where he touched on a number of subjects. In this first part of that interview, Stamkos touches on how dark things were when he was diagnosed with a torn meniscus, how this rehab went compared to his previous two injuries, whether he picked up any new hobbies to take his mind off rehab and how difficult it was to watch the team struggle during the first three-plus months of the season.

Part two is here.

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Lightning Insider:Have you had a chance to reflect on the last calendar year, what you have gone through and how it’s affected you?

Stamkos:”It’s been unfortunate, but there is really nothing I can really do about it now. There are times when things initially play the “why me, poor me’’ card a little bit in your head. But you start to realize that this is the hand you were dealt and you deal with it. It’s been tough for sure, hopefully that stuff is behind you and you really start to put things in to perspective, you are fortunate to be able to do what you are doing as a living and as a job. Injuries and stuff like that come with the territory, obviously you don’t want it and I’ve had to experience a lot and deal with a lot. I think it definitely changes the perspective on the game how much you cherish the time you have because you never really know. But I’ve put in a lot of hard work and I’m definitely ready to put all that stuff behind me and get back to being the player that I know I can be and help our team accomplish our goal of winning.

Lightning Insider:How long did the “why me’’ phase last this time around?

Stamkos:This one was tough to swallow and probably the toughest just because when I did the leg, that was the first one and you are bound to have an injury throughout your career so that was a little easier to deal with because it was the first one. The blood clot, that was out of nowhere and so unexpected I didn’t really know how to react to that. You think then “that’s two pretty good (injuries) that you are probably going to get some good luck’ and then this happens when I’m playing some of my best hockey, personally, getting off to a decent start as a team. Things were going well. This one is the toughest from a rehab stand point and the toughest the first four or five days. I had surgery pretty much two days after the injury, I flew out to Vail (Colorado) right away and everything happened so quick. Those three or four days in Vail after the surgery were pretty tough knowing that this was going to take a while to heal.

Lightning Insider:How tired are you have having to get off the plane on crutches?

Stamkos: “That’s tough to do, I don’t look forward to having to do that. But the whole process, when you have to go through it, the quicker you can learn that there is nothing you can do about it, there is no point in pouting because you can’t go back and change time. You have to deal with it and the quicker you realize that the easier it is to get up every day and put the work in to get better. You start seeing results and see that there is light at the end of the tunnel, it’s dark at the beginning but you are still very fortunate to be doing what you are doing, you just put in the work and hope everything heals properly.”

Lightning Insider: How dark were things at the beginning? Ever reach any form of depression?>

Stamkos: “No, like I said, I’ve always have to look at the bigger picture. There is not one day where I would trade anything for what I’m fortunate enough to do for the past nine years playing in this league. It just puts everything in to perspective a little bit. There are some days where you are tired and you don’t want to go to the rink, those are the days you look back and say “Really, you are playing in the NHL, you get to do what you have done since a kid every day’’ so you just appreciate the game a little more when you go through injuries, that it is tough to go through that and not get to play and not be around the guys. It was such a weird year with (Ryan Callahan) being out, too, and I think it helped both of us that we were there at the same time. It sucks that you don’t want guys to be injuries, but we went through that process together and it made it a little easier on one another for sure.”

Lightning Insider: It was a tough year for you with the injury, but how hard was it to watch the team struggle for the first four months of the season knowing you couldn’t do anything about it?

Stamkos: “That was new territory, too, because we have had some injuries before to some key guys and we’ve always found a way to rally and make it work just because of the mindset this team has and the skill that this team has, we have always found a way. So Initially when it wasn’t working, it was tough to swallow knowing the potential we had on this team and the expectations that we had coming in to this year, it was difficult. Then the trade deadline comes and you see what goes on there. But I think you need to give this group a lot of credit, they didn’t once quit on the year or quit on each other. We went on a hell of a run and we probably even surprised a lot of people that we got to where we were playing meaningful games right to the end. So that is a positive. It’s always tough to look at the positives in a season where you don’t make the playoffs, especially with the standard we’ve set here. But it was tough watching us struggle and it wasn’t easy.”

Lightning Insider:By the time we get to training camp in September you will have played 23 games (not counting exhibition games) in the span of 17 months, counting the World cup of Hockey, does that go through your mind as you think about the next time you will step back on the ice for the first time?

Stamkos: “I haven’t really thought of it like that. Where I was five months ago to where I am right now, I’m in a much better place physically and much better place mentally. For me, I’m just excited to get going again and just feel as good as I know I’m going to feel after a summer of training and continuing to work and continuing to rehab. You don’t know what the future is going to hold, so just try to enjoy it now. It’s been a couple of tough breaks with injuries and stuff like that, you just have to prepare yourself, be a pro and give yourself the best chance physically to come back in and try to stay as healthy as possible. I know it’s a tough game and things are going to happen, they’ve just been freak things that have happened. Maybe it’s some tough luck, but I’m just going to continue to prepare like it’s another year. I’m looking forward to getting back on the ice with the guys and playing some games, it’s been difficult not playing but I have put in a lot of work. I’m just looking forward to that moment.”

Lightning Insider: What sort of pressure and expectations does this put on next season, because the team failed to make the playoffs this year and lost some of that momentum from the previous three years?

Stamkos: “At the end of the day, you are going to look back on this season and use it as a tool, use it as motivation, use it as one step back so let’s take two steps forward next year. The expectations is still to make the playoffs, you just have to get in in this league, we know that. But let’s not dig ourselves a hole, that’s two years in a row where we’ve had to claw our way back. Once we get in I think we know what it takes to reach the Final, the conference finals, we’ve done that and are comfortable in those situations, it’s just making sure we don’t take it for granted that just because of the people that we have on this team and what we’ve done as an organization that you are just automatically going to get in. I think the guys learned that the hard way this year, everyone on this team did, so you just use that as a tool.’’

Lightning InsiderThere’s always a lot of talk about getting away from the game, taking your mind off the game. What have you done to get away from the grind of rehab?

Stamkos: “There’s not much you can really do to get away from it, it’s just you have to expect some days that are tougher than others. Days where you are just sick of doing the same thing over and over and not necessarily seeing the results immediately. That’s the tough thing about rehab, there are certain injuries that you see daily improvement and certain injuries where it’s almost a week or two weeks before you see improvement. But if you don’t put those days in, it’s not going to be a week or two, it’s going to be three or four. So I can’t sit here and say that I can in every day full of energy and a smile on my face every day. There were days where you are physically sore and mentally exhausted, but that’s where our staff here in having the personal relationships we have having been here now for nine years with the same guys. They know when to push, they know when to back off and, unfortunately we’ve been in this situation too many times where they know how to read me during those days. They can create that balance where there are going to be times where you are going to need an off day to relax and give it a shot tomorrow. They know where that line is, so they were a big help for sure.’’

Lightning Insider:So no new hobbies or binge watching?

Stamkos: “No, I really didn’t change my routine. Obviously you get in to a new routine pretty quick having to be (to the rink) before the guys get there so you can get your work in before they get to the rink and stuff like that. So you get back in to a different routine pretty quick. But I watched a lot of hockey this year and our own team, which is not something you make a habit of and it’s been tough the past two years watching too many of our games. So I definitely watched a lot of hockey, but other than that nothing really drastically changed.”

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