x

Already member? Login first!

Comments / New

Quick Strikes: Steven Stamkos and shoulder surgeries

Posted on by Hardev

The Bolts

Not one. Not two. But three. Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos put on a legendary performance on Monday night against the New York Rangers, reaching milestones every time he found the back of the net. And he found that netting a lot! Check out Matthew’s recap for a full breakdown of the night. [Raw Charge]

This was Stamkos’ 700th career point, in his 696th game. Stamkos is the first player from the 2008 draft to hit 700 career points. Steven Stamkos is a Lightning great and his career isn’t even over yet (he’s third in franchise history in points and he isn’t even 30 yet). Imagine where he’d be if it weren’t for the two leg injuries.

I have to ask, which Stammer Stunner was your favourite? Mine is by far the second goal. You see Stammer work on awkward shots like that in practice and in the summers — he takes immense pride in getting his shot off perfectly no matter what — but seeing it in-game was something else. He looked like he had gotten his feet tangled, killing any power from his lower-body, but somehow still found the top corner. Let’s see Alex Ovechkin, Patrik Laine, or Auston Matthews do THAT!

Which Stamkos hat trick goal was your favorite?

1st goal (250th power play point) 2
2nd goal (700th point) 58
3rd goal (franchise-record 9th hat trick) 14

And, of course, a word from the man himself:

Lightning coach Jon Cooper has been glowing in his appreciation for Louis Domingue and his efforts in keeping the team humming in the absence of Andrei Vasilevskiy. That and more in Bryan Burns’ Three Things. [NHL dot com]

Stamkos reached a couple more milestones in his record-setting performance against the Rangers. His first power-play goal was his 250th career power-play point. His second power-play goal, scored from the same spot on the opposite end of the ice, was his 700th career NHL point. He joins Martin St. Louis (953 pts.) and Vincent Lecavalier (874 pts.) as the only Lightning players to reach the 700-point milestone.

Speaking of, Domingue was named the second star of the week in the NHL! [NHL dot com]

The 26-year-old St Hyacinthe, Que., native has compiled a 13-4-0 record, 2.95 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in 17 total appearances this season. His 13 victories share third place in the NHL and are just four shy of the League lead (held by Marc-Andre Fleury in 11 more games).

Stanley Cup of Chowder has an update of the Atlantic Division. Long story short, Tampa remains on the rise while Toronto sputtered in some embarassing losses. [Stanley Cup of Chowder]

The Tampa Bay Lightning had a great week, unfortunately for the Bruins. They played for games and won each of them. One of them was a 7-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche. The Lightning are on fire, dominating the division. Ondrej Palat scored his first and second goals of the season against the Avalanche. Will the Lightning ever crash and burn? We can only hope so.

Christmas parties are another theme in this QS (more to come). Gosh, I love this team.

The Prospects

The Syracuse Crunch have been moving Otto Somppi up and down between the AHL and ECHL Orlando Solar Bears in order to get him some game time. After two games in Florida (where he put up a goal and assist), he’s back with the Crunch. [Syracuse Crunch]

Somppi, 20, played in two games with the Solar Bears collecting a goal and an assist. He also skated in one preseason game with the Crunch this season before suffering an injury. The Helsinki, Finland native appeared in three playoff games with the Crunch last season. Prior to his professional career, the 6-foot-2, 192-pound forward played in 178 career QMJHL games all with the Halifax Mooseheads from 2015 to 2018 earning 170 points (58g, 112a).

Speaking of the Solar Bears, here is Tracey’s weekly Orlando recap. Check out Otto’s games and read about the team’s new captain! [Raw Charge]

Veteran defenseman Mike Monfredo was named the sixth team captain in franchise history on Thursday, with forwards Curt Gogol and Brady Shaw serving as alternates. Troy Bourke will also wear the “A” when needed.

In slightly worse news, okay really worse news, Michael Bournival requires surgery on his shoulder. The veteren forward might be missed for the entire season as a result. [Syracuse]

Syracuse Crunch forward Michael Bournival has decided to have surgery on his ailing shoulder, a procedure that will almost certainly end his season. Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said Bournival will have the surgery this week in Syracuse. BriseBois said the recovery timetable is 6-7 months.

Once again, Carter Verhaeghe received the team’s Player of the Week honors. I don’t have the exact numbers, but he’s been winning it a lot this season.

The Crunch also hosted all their season ticket holders for their annual Christmas Party. I can confirm Associate Editor Alex really enjoyed her time speaking with Ben Thomas.

The Game

Mickey Bournival wasn’t the only player to need shouldr surgery yesterday, Colorado’s top prospect (who had been playing in the NHL) Vladislav Kamenev was forced to be sidelined once again due to a major injury. [Mile High Hockey]

This is terrible news for Kamenev, who’s had the worst luck since coming to Denver in the Matt Duchene trade. He amassed only 20 games across the AHL and NHL last season, and only got to play in 25 before this potentially season-ending injury. And before you ask, no, he is not injury-prone. Hockey is a physical sport and the injury bug is not fair.

The St. Louis Blues are finally at the point of in-fighting. Literally. It’s getting really bad over there, eh. [NHL dot com]

“Mentally, I think guys are at a point right now where they’re so frustrated with how things have gone,” defenseman Chris Butler said. “… It’s a fragile group and it’s hard to go out there and just play and have fun and enjoy the game when things aren’t going your way.

Seattle has a deep aboriginal history, and it appears indigenous artists are getting the opportunity to create the logo for the new team! This is definitely a read you should take your time out for. [The Patch]

“[Team owner Earl] Hale made suggestions during the process, the most important being that the designer come up with something similar to the Totems logo. After doing some drafting and drawing, the graphic designer created a wood carving of what would be the franchises new logo. The logo that was created is almost completely similar to the current logo for the team, with only a few minor color changes over the years,” a history of the Thunderbirds logo reads.

Highlight of the Night: It’s gotta be Stammer.

If you enjoyed this article please consider supporting RawCharge by subscribing here, or purchasing our merchandise here.

Support RawCharge by using our Affiliate Link when Shopping Hockey Apparel !

Talking Points