Steve Stamkos Received ‘Emotional’ Welcome From Tampa Bay Lightning Fans

Steve Stamkos is the owner of virtually every career scoring mark in the 32-season history of the Tampa Bay Lightning. On Monday evening, he owned Amalie Arena. The 34-year-old Stamkos returned to the venue he called home for 16 seasons, a venue that fans in the not-too-distant future will likely enter by walking past his likeness in the form of a statue in Thunder Alley. That time will come. Monday’s game between the Lightning and visiting Nashville Predators was about welcoming back a pillar not only in the team’s record book, but in the community. And welcome Steven Stamkos back to Tampa they did. A nearly three-minute salute included a video tribute that was a journey through a remarkable career. Fans stood and applauded before chants of “Stammer, Stammer” resonated throughout the building. “You see where it all began was right here as an 18-year-old kid, where I grew up from a boy to a man, a Stanley Cup champion, a husband, a father,” said Stamkos, following Nashville’s 3-2 overtime loss in which he assisted on both goals. “Most of my life has been here, so it’s definitely emotional. At the same time, it’s a fun place for me to play hockey.” Among the team records the No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft accumulated wearing the lightning bolt on the front of his jersey were most career games (1,082), goals (555), points (1,137), power play goals (214) and hat tricks (13). No accomplishments were larger in the 16 years, though, than winning Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021. “I feel very fortunate that I was here a decade of those years,” said Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper. “I got to see it live and in real time and experience the ups and downs. It brings back fond memories and watershed moments.” Stamkos signed with the Predators on July 1, the day the NHL free agency window opened. Seemingly every Lightning fan in bay area, and plenty of other locales, expressed their dissatisfaction. The writing was on the wall, though, when he was not re-signed prior to the 2023-24 season and remained unsigned in the days and weeks following Tampa Bay’s elimination in the opening round of the playoff at the hands of the Florida Panthers despite general manager expressing the desire to get a deal done. “Shock and utter disbelief,” said Jay Recher, host of the Jay & Z afternoon show on WDAE in Tampa Bay, when asked about the temperature of callers. “The majority of fans were furious with Julien BriseBois for not getting a deal done. Everyone, myself included, thought the only jersey Steven Stamkos would wear in his NHL career would be that of the Lightning.” Instead of finishing his career where it started, Stamkos was the headliner of free agency thanks to signing a four-year, $32-million deal with Nashville. Meanwhile, BriseBois was busy retooling Tampa Bay’s roster, including signing two-time 40-goal scorer Jake Guentzel, nearly five years younger than Stamkos, to a seven-year, $63-million pact. Guentzel has fit in just fine on Tampa Bay’s top line with Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, posting 2-7-9 in the team’s nine games through Monday. Stamkos’ assists, his first two as a Pred, gave him a 1-2-3 line in nine games. None of that mattered Monday night at Amalie Arena, which is adjacent to the Hillsborough River where Stamkos was a centerpiece of two Stanley Cup boat parades. Instead, it was the sight of a Tampa Bay sports icon wearing different colors. “It was weird to see him standing on the blue line during the anthem, and not in our jersey,” said Cooper.