Thank You, Tampa Bay

I’ve got this memory that keeps playing in my head these past few days. 

It was 7:30 in the morning. The day after we beat Montreal to win our second Cup. I was at home, and everybody was there. Parents, kids, teammates, friends. Nobody had gotten much sleep. We were exhausted, but it was just one of those amazing nights. We were all sitting around, just sharing in the joy. Soaking in the moment. And my son Carter rolled out of bed. He came into the kitchen, and we made him a bowl of his favorite Sesame Street Alpha-Bits cereal to eat out of the Stanley Cup. I was looking at him and just thinking, like, Man. What a special moment this is…. 

I’ll remember that image forever. Forever. 

It just kind of captured so much about what our time in Tampa has meant — how it became home. 

So how do you say goodbye to a place like that? To a city that welcomed you as an 18-year-old kid, to the only NHL team you’ve ever known, to a fanbase that’s been family? I don’t really know, to be honest. 

I never thought I’d have to do one of these. It doesn’t quite feel real that I won’t be a Bolt this fall. But over the past few weeks, I’ve had this really deep sense of how lucky I was to be one for 16 years. So I just want to share some memories, and say some thanks to everyone who has been a part of this journey. 

Back in ’08, if you had told me what the future held after I landed in Tampa … I don’t think I would have believed you one bit. 

It’s so funny to me, you know, looking back on getting drafted and that whole summer. I didn’t know anything about Tampa, really. I knew it was warm and that they had some superstars from their Cup win a few years earlier. I was just excited to get down there, to get to work. 

But I was a kid. Like a, “call my dad from a Best Buy so I don’t pay too much for a phone” type of kid. For real, that’s one of my first memories in the city. I was walking up and down Dale Mabry Highway, in the middle of summer, in 100 degree weather, totally lost, looking for a place to buy a phone. Hoping that I’d get a good deal. 

When I got down to Tampa … I was nervous. The very first time I walked into the rink it was for a press conference. I went in through the security entrance where we come in before practices, and I couldn’t believe it: There were hundreds of employees lined up all the way down the hall, clapping for me as I walked by. I’ll always remember how that made me feel, how welcome I felt. That’s really stuck with me. I felt connected to the organization right away. And that connection never left me. 

The bond that the Lightning have with Tampa is a really special thing. It’s easy to just say that, you know? Every team thinks they have it. But down there, it’s been built up for years and years, and it’s real. I saw it right away with Vinny and Marty and the group of leaders we had in my first season. I was so starstruck seeing those guys. I’d watched them growing up. They ran some skates before camp started, and I remember being out on the ice, like, Ah, this isn’t Sarnia.… This isn’t the OHL. These guys were just different. Incredible players and outstanding leaders. They knew how to set an example. Marty was a fiery leader. He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind if he thought it was going to make the group better. That was an important characteristic that was true of all the Lightning teams I’ve been on. We held each other accountable. And the fans held us to those same standards. 

In those early years, that culture had a big impact on me as a young player. Guys like Mike Smith, Teddy Purcell, Nate Thompson and Steve Downie helped me out a lot as I spent more time in the league. And they’re still my close friends to this day. 

But as a team, we had our ups and downs. People might’ve looked at us and thought it was just sunshine and good times and all that, but we went through it before we got to where we wanted to go.

Those times made us better. They made our bond with the city even stronger. 

One of those low points was toward the end of the lockout season in 2013. We’d missed the playoffs the year before, and we were making a change at head coach. As a player, you take some of that blame. It can be a real wake-up call. 

I’ll be honest, I didn’t know much about Jon Cooper. I’d heard the same things as everyone else. Young guy. Used to be a lawyer. Wins wherever he goes.

I remember him walking in the room, meeting us all for the first time. We were pretty down, pretty frustrated with the season. Coop comes in, and you know how he is, he’s kind of bouncing almost. And one of the very first things he says is, “We need to have more swagger!” Some of the older guys started laughing, I think. And at first, yeah, maybe it was a bit different. But, man, it felt genuine coming from him. His whole thing was about belief in ourselves, and comradery and getting everyone to buy in together. His attitude was just contagious, and we all got on board fast.

As a team, we got smaller, we got faster. We leaned into skill when other teams were focusing on size. We went away from the trap, and we got to forechecking hard and aggressively. And it was new for a lot of us. But we had this great group that came up from Norfolk with him. Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, Ondřej Palát and some other really talented players. They knew the system, and it just spread across the team. And when you start winning, when you start having fun? Everything falls into place after that. Looking back, that was really the start of our identity on the ice.

But I think that the culture of hard work, of accountability, goes back years. And I hope it goes on long after me. After Marty left and I became captain, I really tried to take the things I learned from him and make them my own. And as the years went on, I followed in the footsteps of so many of the great players I suited up with. Vinny, Gary Roberts, Ryan Malone, Mark Recchi, Brenden Morrow, Ryan McDonagh, Ryan Callahan. I just tried to absorb as much as I could so I could be the type of  leader Tampa Bay deserved.

And it all came together in 2015. That skill, speed, work ethic … our swagger. It was all there. 

We just ran into a dynasty. Chicago was a veteran team who knew how to play in those tight Cup final games. It’s one of those situations where, no matter how prepared you think you are, there’s nothing like the real thing. We just weren’t quite a finished product. And it hurt. Because when you get there … you know how hard it was just to get there. And people can talk about how you’re young and there will be more chances and everything like that. But even now, when I close my eyes and think back, I can still hear the Blackhawks’ sticks hitting the ice as they jumped over the boards. 

That’s just the way it is.

So when I re-signed in 2016, I wanted to finish what we started. And I had this vision of it in my head, right? Like the perfect ending to the story. Leading us through the playoffs in front of our city, lifting the Cup at Amalie, living out childhood dreams. I could see it. But it just wasn’t happening like that. There were close calls, and there were injuries.

I just want to stop here for a second and talk about some of those injuries. Because that’s where, as an athlete, you lean so much on the organization and the city. When I was hurt, when I was vulnerable, Tampa had my back. These weren’t always minor things. I had intense surgeries and issues that I had to spend hundreds of hours rehabbing. Our head trainer, Tommy Mulligan, our assistant trainer, Mike Poirier, and our manual therapist, Christian Rivas — those guys really mean so much to me. Along with all of our trainers and medical team members who helped me a lot over the years. They’ve seen me at my worst. When I felt down on myself, or I felt like stopping. They pushed me. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them. Simple as that. And I wanted to get to the mountaintop for those guys.

I saw them a lot in 2020. I mean, that year…. Man, sometimes life just throws everything at you. I was dealing with a muscle injury right before the season stopped, and Covid hit and nobody knew what was going to happen. We knew we’d have some time before games started up again and I’d have time to recover. So I was working really hard leading up to the bubble. Life was weird. It feels so long ago now, I think. But it’s still so vivid. My wife, Sandra, and I were expecting our second child at the time, too. It was this kind of scary, beautiful few months.

Right before the Bubble, about a week before we left for Toronto, I tweaked the injury and our medical team was trying to figure out what we should do. We thought we could grind through it in the playoffs and maybe get surgery after the Bubble, but it just wasn’t healing. It was right in the abdomen. I was rehabbing a lot through the Bubble but it was just difficult without all the resources we normally have.

And I was thinking about Sandra constantly. I wanted to be with her. We’d talk on the phone all the time. One day, one of those calls wasn’t like the others. Something wasn’t right with her, with the baby. And there was all this protocol about not leaving the Bubble and these rules and I just said, like honestly, F*** it … I'm going to be with my wife. Nothing else mattered. She was staying outside Toronto, so I drove to see her. 

I got to her, and the next few days were the most difficult we’ve ever been through. 

We lost our child. 

I took the next few weeks to be with her, to be with our family. I barely paid attention to much else.

It’s one of those times in my life where I was thankful for everyone we had around us. The support from our loved ones, our friends, the Lightning organization. It saved us. 

And when the time came to return to the Bubble, my mind was still all over the place. Trying to focus on rehabbing and hockey — it was hard. We had gotten to the finals and everybody was giving everything they had. I  wanted to do whatever I could to help the team. I just wanted to be a part of it. 

When I got into the lineup for Game 3, I felt pretty good. I thought I’d be able to play the rest of the series. But on my second shift I got the puck and went past Lindell along the boards, and as I kind of dipped by him, and I felt the muscle go. It completely tore. I just tried to use my momentum and weight to get a shot off. I looked up and it was going top corner and adrenaline took over. It’s one of those plays where you just try to leave it all out there. I got back to the bench and I knew I was in tough shape. I think I did another shift and that was it. My series was done. 

But our group…. What a special team. There was no quit in those guys. We knew what to do, and as hard as it was to watch those games from the locker room … I never doubted we’d get there.

The next time I was on the ice was after we won Game 6, and I was looking at the Stanley Cup.

I only played a couple shifts in those playoffs. There were no fans. We didn’t have all of our families with us. It wasn’t how I pictured it at all. It was just this completely unique experience.

But when I raised the Cup over my head … none of that stuff mattered. None of it. I looked up and I saw all the names on it, my reflection in it. And I felt this relief. Like I can’t even explain. All the stress, the tension, the anxiety I had been carrying for so long, it just went away. I saw the looks on the boys’ faces. Seeing Victor Hedman, knowing how hard he’d worked and the relationship we had built, and being able to hand him the Cup … it was just awesome. And Nikita, too. Playing alongside a player like him was incredible. Just seeing all the guys have their moment — that’s why you play the game. 

Like I said, it wasn’t how I pictured it. But it was still perfect.

The best part, though?

Less than a year later, it was exactly how I dreamt it.

At home. Packed arena. Great playoff run. Great final. Lifting the Cup in front of everyone. 

Sharing it with you, Tampa.

It was beyond words. 

To win two cups in 282 days, that’s pretty cool.

It was such an amazing time in the city those few years. The Bucs were winning, the Rays were great. “Champa Bay” was alive. The boat parades, the crowds, the celebrations. That’s what it’s all about. 

Tampa has been a second home for my parents, Chris and Lesley, too. They’ve supported me each step of the way here, and every time I saw them in the stands it reminded me of those early mornings in Ontario. I couldn’t have done any of this without them.

When I got taken first overall, they kept me grounded. They helped me to know my focus.

I wanted to be the one who lived up to the hype, who took the organization where it dreamt to go. I remember those “Seen Stamkos?” billboards in 2008, and how much faith the Lightning put in me, and I hope I repaid it.

I wish this last season had ended differently, but I’ll remember those good times for as long as I live.

I’m going to miss you a lot, Bolts fans.

And from Jeff Vinik to Jon Cooper, to our world-class staff and everyone at Amalie, to my incredible teammates over the years, to everyone with the Lightning organization — from the bottom of my heart: Thank you. It has been the honor of my life to represent this team, and to be your captain.

These past few weeks have been bittersweet. I never thought this day would come. I did everything I felt I could do to make it work, but sometimes things just happen. It didn’t work. And I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t heartbreaking. But my family and I, we’re human, you know? Tampa is home. It’s where our three kids were born … it’s where our memories are. It’s always going to mean so much to us. 

At the same time, though, it doesn’t mean we can’t be excited for the future. Because we really are — I’m fired up just thinking about the start of the season in Smashville. Preds fans, we’ll talk soon. 

And when the time comes to play down in Tampa, it’ll be nice to be home again.

—Steven