from Cam Cole of the Vancouver Sun,
Stamkos’s omission from the home team’s last-gasp effort was not quite in the same league as Team Canada coach Marc Crawford leaving Wayne Gretzky out of the shootout against the Czechs in the semifinal at the Nagano Olympics, but it’s a puzzler, nonetheless.
Was this a message from coach to player? If so, it was an odd time to deliver it. Did the six players Cooper chose for that final push give the Lightning the best chance to score? Evidently, the coach thought so, and you can hardly blame him for Johnson, who leads the playoffs in goals (12) and points (21), and Kucherov and Killorn, each of whom have had hot streaks (and Killorn had the Tampa goal Wednesday).
But six attackers, none named Stamkos?
Is he hurt? Are there still lingering effects from the broken leg that kept him out of the Sochi Olympics?
Remember early this season, when he said: “Well, that’s kind of the million-dollar question right there: is it ever going to feel the same as pre-injury? I don’t know the answer to that.”
Maybe this is the answer.
Not that there’s anything shabby about the 43 goals he scored in this, his first full season back after the injury. He scored 60 in the last 82-game season before he broke his leg, but it’s also a different game now. Only Alex Ovechkin, with 53, broke the 50-goal plane.
And it’s the playoffs, where goals are harder still to come by.
Create an Account
In order to leave a comment, please create an account.