from Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune,

Though Stamkos has been back on skates for the past month, and in full gear since Jan. 2 in Calgary, Thursday marked the first time he was on the ice from the beginning of a session, instead of primarily before or after his teammates were done with formal practice.

“That was huge,” Stamkos said of being out for the full morning skate. “It’s not a full practice, but to be able to go out and not have to go on early or wait until the end to go on, Mike (Poirier, assistant medical trainer) talked last night that I wanted to go out and try it. It’s the best it’s every felt, and we are working extremely hard, but mentally it is a big hurdle to jump over to know that you can at least keep up with the guys, going on a two-on-one with Marty (St. Louis), but it does feel great.”

About the only disappointing moment is when Stamkos did not take part in power-play drills toward the end of the skate, a point Stamkos jokingly made to head coach Jon Cooper.

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added 1:49pm, Stamkos talks after practice today, watch below...