When Steve Stamkos notched his 60th goal the other night, he did something that only 19 other players had done in NHL history. What we didn’t know about Stamkos going into his run at 60 is that it’s more impressive he pulled it off than you think.
Stamkos tells the Tampa Tribune that he spent most of the final month of the season playing with a bad shoulder.
Stamkos does not know the injury occurred, but admitted he nearly missed the game against Carolina on March 10. He scored his 49th and 50th goals in the next game and finished with 10 more over the final 13 games to reach 60 for the season.
So not only was he carrying the team virtually by himself, he was doing it while injured? Steven Stamkos has big, brass ones. Given the torrid pace he closed the season with, it makes you wonder if Stamkos even felt anything at all. I know we’ll call Stamkos a “scoring machine” but he may actually be bionic if he’s able to withstand a bum shoulder with how he plays.
Stamkos is getting a MRI done on the shoulder to see if it’s badly hurt. If everything comes up clean, expect Stamkos to play for Team Canada at the World Championships in May.