We’ve already noted how NHL teams will grow increasingly (and comically) secretive about player injuries* but Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher produced some comedy (intentional or not) when he explained the struggles of his best scorer. When asked to justify a six game goal-less drought by Steven Stamkos, Boucher said he was injured, elaborating further that it was a “some parts of the body” injury.
* - Notice how the Phoenix Coyotes explained that Ed Jovanovski suffered a “lower body injury” after his jaw was on the receiving end of a Mike Brown shoulder check? Although perhaps he hurt his lower body on the way down? See, that’s how they get you ...
Whenever I see a stat overlay that says “Player X has zero goals in x games” I always wonder if that guy happened to pile up a lot of assists in that span. My skepticism wasn’t justified in the case of Stamkos, though, as he only has one assist in that six game goal-less span.
The good news is that Stamkos downplayed the severity of his ailments, describing them as “bumps and bruises” with flu-like symptoms being the latest issue. With 31 goals to his credit with almost half the season remaining, it’s reasonable to expect an occasional lull anyway.
Even if that’s something Stamkos wouldn’t like to see very often.Stamkos, second in the league with 31 goals, describe whatever his injury is or was as “nothing major, nothing that’s going to keep me from playing a game. Honestly, it’s the bumps and bruises I go through every year.”
He also said he has been fighting “a little bit of the flu, lately.”
As for his drought, he said, “You want to find that consistency. You don’t want to have those spurts, but the team is finding ways to win. ... Sometimes it gets a little frustrating because of what you expect of yourself, but at the end of the day we’re all happy at the fact that we’re winning. To me, that’s most important.”