Player Discussion: The Official Steven Stamkos Appreciation Thread

[ultra63]

Took the words out of my mouth. There was no need to string everyone along. Stamkos deserved much better. It will be weird seeing Stamkos in a different jersey, but I wish Tampa front office showed him much more respect than they did in the process for everything Stamkos has done for that organization.

Still crickets on
Official Tampa Bay Lightning Website | Tampa Bay Lightning about the face of the franchise leaving

 

[OffBy1]

It will be weird seeing Stamkos in a different jersey

And of all the other jerseys to see him in.... yuck.

 

[DFC]

I am worried about this as well I mentioned this when Sergy got traded that I doubt him and Vasy are happy.

Now the captain got shown the door in one of the worst ways possible.

Entire locker room is probably angry.

I don't know. It took Hedman about 12 seconds to sign an extension after the whole thing went down.

 

[T REX]

Lightning getting abused by hockey media.

JBB really took a hit. Ice a winner and it won't matter.

 

[LightningStrikes]

A change of scenery might do good to Stamkos too. He’ll now play with Forsberg, JAM and Josi. Maybe he’ll even find his 5v5 game. If not at least their PP will get a huge boost.

 

[Sky04]

A change of scenery might do good to Stamkos too. He’ll now play with Forsberg, JAM and Josi. Maybe he’ll even find his 5v5 game. If not at least their PP will get a huge boost.

Forsberg plays that spot, not sure what they're going to so now with Stamkos.

 

[Ducati Boy]

I had an adjunct role with the team back when we drafted Stammer. In fact, I managed to get the draft hat that was intended for him. I asked Feaster if I could take a hat from the hat tower at the draft table — he said sure, so I took the top one.

When Stammer was picked it was the next hat in the pile that ultimately went on his head.

I spent some time letting him know where his buddies (I.e Matt Martin) had been picked.

He was great at interacting with fans, including some slightly creepy and or drunk characters.

 

[flying squirrel]

Took the words out of my mouth. There was no need to string everyone along. Stamkos deserved much better. It will be weird seeing Stamkos in a different jersey, but I wish Tampa front office showed him much more respect than they did in the process for everything Stamkos has done for that organization.

What JBB just did with Stamkos, will hurt Lightning's organization way worse that any contract could've ever done. The fractured relationships, lockeroom chemistry, organization reputation, trust, etc. doesn't get fixed overnight,. That takes time, and even years to build sometimes. Oh well, hope some lust to win so much was worth it. Hind-sight 20/20, but would've rather Lightning done right after back-to-back, and 3-peat attempt. Than what has taken place. It's one thing to retool, but way JBB did this was nasty and ruthless. Like I said, JBB actions and behavior these last two years, will do more harm than any contract could ever do.

Lightning trading away players right away after 3 peat, would gotten Lightning a sweet young haul these last few drafts. Would rather Lightning organization kept it's dignity & reputation after 6 ECF's, 4 SCF's, and back-to-backs. Rather than watch this waddling around in the mud pretending Lightning are a championship caliber team year after year. Lightning are in the land of delusion, and some are willing to sell teams soul, just for another chance to relive glory-days. So much so, they're willing to follow this GM off-the-cliff: while he ruins what took years to build...."A brand" Stamkos had been a huge part of that brand and deserved way better than this GM gave him. Period!!!! Plus, fans deserve better than to be lied too over & over during process And if this is who Lightning are now, and this is "The product"? Our house is about done with, or maybe done until JBB is gone. Done trying to figure out why BriseBois did this, all that matters is he did now!!!!

 

[flying squirrel]

I don't know. It took Hedman about 12 seconds to sign an extension after the whole thing went down.

Who can blame Hedman for signing still? Not many would uproot 16 years of roots, if not needing to do so. Anyways, both can coexist exist: Hedman can not be happy with Stamkos situation, while happy he resigned here at same time.

 

[Rschmitz]

I doubt the players on the team enjoyed those 1st round exits the last couple of years, they probably wanted to see changes too.

Stamkos and Sergachev aren't dead, those guys will still hang out and be chads. The important thing is that whomever you replace them with in the locker room aren't complete asshats. It's one thing not to be able to play with your buddy, it's another thing entirely when you dislike whom you're playing with.

 

[TampaIceman]

Lightning getting abused by hockey media.

JBB really took a hit. Ice a winner and it won't matter.

Most hockey media is pretty bad so it’s not really concerning.

 

[T REX]

Most hockey media is pretty bad so it’s not really concerning.

If you don't think how Stamkos was treated wasn't noticed around the league...you might have lightning hued glasses on.

 

[LightningStrikes]

If you don't think how Stamkos was treated wasn't noticed around the league...you might have lightning hued glasses on.

Didn’t stop a bunch of guys from signing or re-signing with us though.

 

[Stammertime91]

I feel like if anything has changed with free agents wanting to come here or not hasn't necessarily been around Stamkos or anything else. Rather it's about our ability to go far or not.

This team needs to get past round one again, though. It's going to be difficult to attract cheap 1 year guys that are proven if we continue this plateau. Instead, we'd just stop with rookies and the retool phase would become a rebuild phase. The fortunate part is that the current core would all have to simultaneously tank to trigger that which is highly unlikely.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Didn’t stop a bunch of guys from signing or re-signing with us though.

This. Vegas has a much worse reputation and it hasn’t impacted them much either.

 

[T REX]

Didn’t stop a bunch of guys from signing or re-signing with us though.

Sure. There's zero fallout. None. Everything is fine.

 

[DFC]

Sure. There's zero fallout. None. Everything is fine.

Actually I don't think there is. I mean, people didn't like it. But Guentzel signed a fair deal. Then Hedman signed the second a contract was put in front of him. I think guys just want to get paid and they want to win. And some of them probably want to play with a guy who just scored 100 assists.

 

[T REX]

Actually I don't think there is. I mean, people didn't like it. But Guentzel signed a fair deal. Then Hedman signed the second a contract was put in front of him. I think guys just want to get paid and they want to win. And some of them probably want to play with a guy who just scored 100 assists.

Those deals were already in place. Like Hedman was gonna back out? LOL

He has 15 years here too. Yes, part is business. But if you don't think that how they treated Stammer isn't in the back of players heads...keep your head in the sand. Because you'll make any excuse for the team. That's ok. I get it.

But don't try to tell me that how we treated Stamkos is normal business. It's not. We could have told him up front that he wasn't in future plans. I've had to do that with employees. It sucks. But it is better than blindsiding employees. Believe it or not, no matter what business you are in...that ish gets out.

I'll go a step further...if JBB was HONEST with Stammer before the season? Stamkos would have asked for a trade like Marty. We could have at least done that. JBB is Bush league. Everyone else knows it outside of Tampa.

That stench isn't going away until JBB does. Deal with it.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Those deals were already in place. Like Hedman was gonna back out? LOL

He has 15 years here too. Yes, part is business. But if you don't think that how they treated Stammer isn't in the back of players heads...keep your head in the sand. Because you'll make any excuse for the team. That's ok. I get it.

But don't try to tell me that how we treated Stamkos is normal business. It's not. We could have told him up front that he wasn't in future plans. I've had to do that with employees. It sucks. But it is better than blindsiding employees. Believe it or not, no matter what business you are in...that ish gets out.

I'll go a step further...if JBB was HONEST with Stammer before the season? Stamkos would have asked for a trade like Marty. We could have at least done that. JBB is Bush league. Everyone else knows it outside of Tampa.

That stench isn't going away until JBB does. Deal with it.

I think it's more the fans that are upset by it than the players. Tampa won a cup without him so I don't think players are gonna think twice about signing here because of what happened with him leaving.

Hedman is real good friends with stamkos I'm sure he knew a year ago that he was upset with how they treated him. I also think the players know more about the situation than we the fans do. I think the players like stamkos but I don't think they liked the defense he played. So I think they will be OK with him on another team at that cap hit.

I think it was the right thing to do (to let him go) but we definitely could have handled it better.

 

[Sky04]

*searches Tampa Bay Lightning in Google

*no mentions of TB being "trashed" by the media

 

[T REX]

I think it's more the fans that are upset by it than the players. Tampa won a cup without him so I don't think players are gonna think twice about signing here because of what happened with him leaving.

Hedman is real good friends with stamkos I'm sure he knew a year ago that he was upset with how they treated him. I also think the players know more about the situation than we the fans do. I think the players like stamkos but I don't think they liked the defense he played. So I think they will be OK with him on another team at that cap hit.

I think it was the right thing to do (to let him go) but we definitely could have handled it better.

LOL. More rationalizations. We just treated a 16 year vet...hockey royalty...probably the greatest player in Tampa sports history...like a piece of trash. JBB ghosted him. That is fact. JBB knew last summer he wasn't bringing him back.

Rationalize all you want but that is not "world class organization" behavior. And if Vinik knew? That will come out.

This place has been in denial for years. Years. Rude awakenings are coming.

 

[T REX]

*searches Tampa Bay Lightning in Google

*no mentions of TB being "trashed" by the media

"Serious collateral damage": Frank Seravalli goes off on Tampa Bay Lightning for shock Steven Stamkos split

The Tampa Bay Lightning's offer to Steven Stamkos left fans and analysts around the league confused.

www.sportskeeda.com

*searches Tampa Bay Lightning in Google

*no mentions of TB being "trashed" by the media

"Slap in the face" - Paul Bissonnette slams Lightning's "insulting" $3,000,000 AAV Steven Stamkos contract offer

The Nashville Predators signed Steven Stamkos to a four-year deal worth $32 million this week, marking a significant shift in the landscape of the league.

www.sportskeeda.com

https://thehockeynews.com/news/opinion-its-abundantly-clear-the-lightning-had-no-intention-of-re-signing-steven-stamkos

Stamkos says break up with Lightning 'puzzling and strange'

After 16 years with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Steven Stamkos was walked to unrestricted free agency and signed with the Nashville Predators. When asked what happened, Stamkos said it was "puzzling" and "strange" he couldn't get a deal done in Tampa.

www.sportsnet.ca

All fake news I bet!

 

[CupsOverCash]

LOL. More rationalizations. We just treated a 16 year vet...hockey royalty...probably the greatest player in Tampa sports history...like a piece of trash. JBB ghosted him. That is fact. JBB knew last summer he wasn't bringing him back.

Rationalize all you want but that is not "world class organization" behavior. And if Vinik knew? That will come out.

It happens in sports a lot more than you realize. A lot of people say it's a business because it is a business. Wayne Gretzky and Tom Brady both played for other teams and both are considered goats in the sport they play in not just best in their respective cities they play in. It's not "rationalizations" it's called a business. Theyre not going to just sign you just because you been with the team for 16 years. It doesn't work that way.

 

[Sky04]

It happens in sports a lot more than you realize. A lot of people say it's a business because it is a business. Wayne Gretzky and Tom Brady both played for other teams and both are considered goats in the sport they play in not just best in their respective cities they play in. It's not "rationalizations" it's called a business. Theyre not going to just sign you just because you been with the team for 16 years. It doesn't work that way.

The guy complaining about how weak the team is every year is mad we didn't bring back a one dimensional complimentary player on his terms lmao this stuff writes itself.

 

[CupsOverCash]

The guy complaining about how weak the team is every year is mad we didn't bring back a one dimensional complimentary player on his terms lmao this stuff writes itself.

Vl4 was bought out because he wasn't worth the contract he was at. There was no controversy but it's not all that different tbh. If a guy is let go when he can still be a great asset for the team then yea it's not smart asset management. If he's costing more than it's going to help the team you will not receive a ton of slack if you let him go. I don't care if he's a legend in the city or not. I remember vl4 was tough to watch and it was sad to let him go but was necessary. Stamkos isn't at that level yet but it could be soon and no fan here really wants to see that either. You start to blame the guy for costing the team wins at that point. We just weren't going to do that with the window the team still has.