EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Steven Stamkos greeted Sport four time beyond regulation hero Kevin Shattenkirk with a hug within the tunnel after the sport. After the Tampa Bay Lightning missed out on their first probability to win the Stanley Cup in double time beyond regulation an evening later, Stamkos walked into the locker room to re-energize teammates.

Stamkos wasn’t enjoying, however he was nonetheless the captain.

He put his gear on with three or 4 minutes left within the Lightning’s championship clincher Monday night time and have become the primary captain in additional than 50 years to just accept the Cup when not enjoying within the closing sport. After main the Lightning whereas combating to return again from damage and enjoying lower than three minutes in all playoffs, it was a no brainer for Stamkos to carry the hallowed trophy over his head first.

“You dream about this endlessly,” Stamkos stated. “You get the Cup, you get the Cup. So many guys would do something on the planet for an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup and there’s so many nice gamers which have performed this sport and haven’t had an opportunity to expertise what we simply skilled.”

The late Jean Beliveau, in 1968, was the final captain to overlook his workforce’s Cup clincher due to an ankle damage. Montreal Canadiens teammate Yvan Cournoyer did so in 1977 whereas out after again surgical procedure, although the workforce gave the “C” to Serge Savard in his absence.

Cournoyer, now 76, noticed a variety of himself in Stamkos.

“Whenever you’re the captain, then you definitely’d be there anyway,” Cournoyer stated by telephone Monday. “They know what you probably did all yr and the folks respect us. He’s an enormous a part of it. To win the Stanley Cup, you want everyone. You want a captain, irrespective of if he’s harm, and also you want everyone collectively.”

Stamkos sounded similar to Cournoyer in his post-Sport 6 feedback, within the aftermath of dwelling out his dream.

“Simply to be on the market and rejoice with the fellows, each single particular person — it was one thing we talked about at the start of coaching camp, that it’s not simply going to take 20 guys to win the Stanley Cup,” Stamkos stated. “It’s going to take each single man who was on this bubble and extra, and I’m so happy with each certainly one of them.”

Lanny McDonald, in 1989, was the final near-miss of a captain not being within the lineup for a Cup clincher. The grizzled veteran was a wholesome scratch for the Calgary Flames in Video games 3, four and 5 and acquired again in for Sport 6, scoring a memorable aim to assist the franchise win its first title.

McDonald was a wholesome scratch, not injured, so he could not completely empathize with Stamkos. However he watched Stamkos rating his iconic aim in Sport Three of the ultimate — in his solely 2:37 of playoff motion — and thought it was extra like a Wayne Gretzky gem than his 31 years in the past.

“I used to be the happiest man to see him rating that aim,” McDonald stated. “I used to be sitting watching with certainly one of my sons and two grandsons and I used to be like, ‘Oh my God, I need to see that once more.’”

Tampa Bay by no means noticed Stamkos on the ice once more after his cameo, which ended when he aggravated the core muscle damage that stored him out since Feb. 25 and was operated on in March. However gamers and coaches noticed loads of him within the locker room and across the bubble — the longtime face of the franchise not shying away from his obligations.

“Despite the fact that Stammer didn’t play, he performed the perfect two minutes of hockey you’re in all probability going to see within the playoffs,” teammate and playoff MVP Victor Hedman stated. “I’m perplexed how a lot he means to us in that room, despite the fact that he’s not enjoying.”

McDonald knew from his personal expertise that Stamkos needed to be the Lightning’s greatest cheerleader when not enjoying. Cournoyer did his finest, too.

“You’re there between durations, and whenever you don’t play, you see the sport just a little bit completely different and also you return between durations and also you attempt to get the fellows to do possibly what they need to do or what they’re doing what’s the perfect,” Cournoyer stated. “I feel it’s an enormous half to have a captain with you on a regular basis.”

Historical past is filled with captains elevating the Stanley Cup and quick on conditions like Stamkos’. Doug Younger did not play within the clincher for for the 1937 Detroit Crimson Wings due to a damaged leg, and McDonald was the one of the Flames’ three co-captains to play after they wrapped it up.

McDonald was on the finish of his profession when he lastly gained all of it and puzzled aloud about Stamkos at 30, particularly after all of the accidents he has handled in recent times.

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“Not understanding long run after being out for thus lengthy, can he come again and begin yet again?” McDonald stated. “That’s the large query mark.”

Cournoyer had his personal questions. He could not even get his gear on with how his again was feeling, however he was again on the ice the subsequent season and led Montreal again to the promised land.

“I used to be trying ahead for the subsequent yr, and after I acquired my first again surgical procedure, we come again and win the Stanley Cup once more,” he stated.

Now, Stamkos will attempt to do the identical.

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