Report: 'No restrictions' for Stamkos at Lightning training camp

Jim Cerny

Report: 'No restrictions' for Stamkos at Lightning training camp image

Talk about a sight for sore eyes.

Steven Stamkos, the superstar captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning, was on the ice Tuesday with his teammates for a pre-training camp workout at the club's practice facility in Bradenton, FL. Stamkos missed the final 65 games of the 2016-17 season after tearing the meniscus in his right knee, a major contributing factor in why the Lightning failed to reach the playoffs after appearing in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final and 2016 Eastern Conference Final.

As Joe Smith first reported for the Tampa Bay Times, Stamkos said after the skate Tuesday that he feels healthy and will not have any restrictions placed on him when camp officially opens next week.

"It's the best it's felt since the surgery, way better than where I ended the season," said Stamkos. "It's been getting better and better every day. I haven't looked this forward to a training camp in a long time."

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With the Lightning desperately attempting to reach the postseason late last year, Stamkos tried to push hard for a comeback. However, he admitted Tuesday that, in retrospect, he was not close to getting back in the lineup to help the Lightning last March/April.

"Knowing what I know now and how I feel now, I wasn't even close," Stamkos said. "It's almost night and day to where it felt physically and mentally towards the end of last season. I probably wasn't as close as I thought."

 

 

The 27-year-old Stamkos suffered the injury in a Nov. 15 contest at Joe Louis Arena against the Red Wings after becoming tangled with Gustav Nyquist. On Tuesday, Stamkos said he now believes that there is the possibility his knee ligament may have already been partially torn prior to that incident.

 

Over the course of his nine-year NHL career, Stamkos has 321 goals and 582 points in 586 games. He led the league in goals twice, netting 51 in 2009-10 and a career-high 60 two years later.

He also had one other major injury, a broken leg during the 2013-14 season.

With Stamkos and Ryan Callahan (limited to 18 games a year ago due to a hip injury) both healthy again, the Lightning are expecting a return to the top of the standings this year. Nikita Kucherov is coming off a 40-goal season, Victor Hedman had a Norris Trophy-worthy season, and talented forwards Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat are primed to rebound after off years, as well, furthering the Lightning cause.

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Most important, if the continued health of the club's leader, and one of the best players in the world, Stamkos.

"I'm going to get back to that player."

Jim Cerny