TAMPA, Fla. -- Poised for what could be a deep run through the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning's Steven Stamkos believes this is the best team he's been on since he was an 18-year-old rookie. At age 25 and the leader of the team -- he had 43 goals and 29 assists for 72 points in 82 games -- Stamkos took time before the first-round series against the Detroit Red Wings begins on Thursday to discuss a few interesting topics, like being a pro athlete in Tampa, his playoff experience, his leg injury suffered last season and the league's leading goal scorer in the regular season, Alex Ovechkin.
MCDONALD: Sometimes you and Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria go back and forth on Twitter, wishing each other well. What kind of relationship do you have with other pro athletes in Tampa?
STAMKOS: Yeah, it's definitely grown over the years. When people think of Tampa, I think they think of the Bucs, they think of the Rays and they think of obviously all the great college sports that you have down in Florida. Hockey's kind of third, fourth fiddle, so I think the last couple of years it's really started to grow here, and as the game's grown, as our team's got better you get a little more notoriety around town. Obviously, the other athletes -- the baseball players, the football players -- maybe they start to gain some more attention to hockey. It's been great. We have a great relationship with both teams. We've had some guys out [who] tried to get on skates, and for a lot of those guys who play those sports, they're from California or Florida and they've never really played hockey before. It's been fun. We've had a chance to go out and hit some batting practice with the Rays. It is a sports town. I don't think it's on your list when you think of typical sports towns, but I think it's a really cool place to live. To be an athlete, you can kind of get away from the game a little bit because as a hockey player, you really can't get that in a lot of cities. You can have an off-day, go golfing, go to the beach, relax, go to the mall, go for dinner -- and there's definitely some people that recognize you -- but at the same time you can lay low a little bit and come to the rink and see the place packed. It's kind of the best of both worlds.
MCDONALD: On to hockey: How will your past playoff experience help you this time around?
STAMKOS: Well, I think for the guys last year, I think there was about 10 or 11 guys that it was their first taste of the playoffs, and it's difficult. I remember my first round of the playoffs we won it, but it took me four, five or six games to get acclimated. We only had four [playoff games] last year, so hopefully the guys realize how tough it is to win and how quickly it can end if you don't play the right way. The guys we brought in over the offseason and at the trade deadline -- this is the time of the year that we brought them in for. They have experience. They've been successful at this time of the year, and everyone has a taste now, at least, so hopefully we can come in a little more confident in ourselves this time around.
MCDONALD: You guys were one win away from the Cup finals in 2011 -- what is it like to get that close without realizing the ultimate dream?
STAMKOS: I think it puts things into perspective a little bit with just how hard it is to get there. You think you're one goal away from the Stanley Cup final, 'OK, we'll get there next year no problem and we'll go to the final.' We didn't make the playoffs for the next two years. It's so tough. For me, that was such a great experience. First round was just kind of an eye-opener and seeing how different style of play it is and the sacrifice you have to make to win. I got more comfortable as we went on. Last year, for me, it was coming back from the injury and just getting over that hurdle, so it's kind of a fresh start for us and for this group this year. We've done pretty well with that so far.
MCDONALD: Speaking of your leg injury -- a broken leg -- how long did it take you to feel 100 percent?
STAMKOS: It was tough. To this day you still feel it. You wake up in the morning and it's still a little tender, but that's something you have to deal with, kind of your new normal, as I call it. For me, the hardest thing was the mental aspect of it. Physically, you work extremely hard, you see the results and you feel it getting better. It was just mentally going back on the ice, going into those areas where you know you're going to get bumped, you know you're going to get hit, you know there's a chance you may slide into the net again, you may slide into the boards -- just trusting everything was going to be all right. Even at the beginning of this season, and as the season progressed, I got more and more confident with that aspect and now I'm at a point where I don't think about it that much.
MCDONALD: What do you say to those critics who think the Lightning don't have enough players with postseason experience to make a deep run?
STAMKOS: Well, anything can happen when you get into the playoffs. That's the beauty of the sport and we've seen that over the years. Every team's goal is to get into the playoffs because they know you get a hot goaltender, you get a couple of bounces your way, your special teams get hot and anything can happen. I think, for a lot of us and the young nucleus that we have, a lot of these guys came up and played with each other in the American Hockey League, won a championship down there, so it's not like it's foreign territory for them. We have a great mix of youth and veteran guys, so this is probably the best team that I've played on in my career with regards to the depth we have, the skill set and speed. We saw it a couple of years ago when no one was thinking we would make it to the conference finals, one game from beating the Stanley Cup champions that year, so we kind of have that mentality heading in. We embrace flying under the radar a little bit.
MCDONALD: This team seems like a tight-knit group. Why is that?
STAMKOS: We have a pretty young nucleus of this team and a lot of guys kind of came through the ranks together. We brought in some guys in the offseason that really fit the mold of good teammates. I think that was one of the criteria they needed to have was to come in here, and not only be great players, but fit in with everyone. We've had a lot of fun this year. It's a lot more fun when you're winning and it's been a great run so far and now the fun begins. Hopefully, we can come together even more and create something special this year.
MCDONALD: Given with what happened last season with goaltender Ben Bishop missing the playoffs due to injury, how do you think he'll handle his first Stanley Cup playoff experience as a starter?
STAMKOS: I know he's excited to get his first taste of the playoffs. He has a pretty calm demeanor, so he's going to tell you it's just another game. For him, once he gets that first shot on net, he'll be fine. He's obviously been great for us this year and it was nice to see him get to 40 wins. He just instills confidence in our group when he's playing well. He expects a lot from himself and he expects a lot from his teammates, and that's a good thing to have.
MCDONALD: What's your relationship like with Lightning GM Steve Yzerman?
STAMKOS: It's been great. Obviously, he's done wonders with our team and putting his stamp on what he thought we needed to be as a team, and obviously it's paid off. For the most part, he's a behind-the-scenes kind of guy and lets the coaches coach. He lets the guys do their thing and you don't see him too often. When you do see him he's obviously [there] if you have any questions or concerns. For me, he's a guy I watched a lot growing up as a kid and wanted to try to be like, so anytime you get a chance to talk, we can talk for a long time and you just sit back and relax. You can be honest with him and he's honest with you, so it's a pretty good relationship to have and obviously a pretty good guy to have around if you have any questions.
MCDONALD: What have you thought of Jonathan Drouin's development at this level?
STAMKOS: It's definitely progressed. It was a tough start. I kind of understand what he was going through. You come in and you expect to be an impact player right away. Sometimes the opportunity's not there, especially with how deep of a forward group we had this year -- he really had to earn what he's gotten, and the great thing about him is he's willing to do that. He's coming to the rink every day, he's working hard and he's been getting his chances, and when he has gotten his chances, the one thing I told him is you can't control how much ice time you get, or who you play with, or if you're on the power play. If you get that chance, you can control what you do on the ice at that particular time, so he's been great and you can see the progression, the confidence that he's grown throughout the year.
MCDONALD: Lastly, what do you think about what Alex Ovechkin was able to accomplish this season, leading the league with 53 goals?
STAMKOS: Pretty impressive. Obviously, scoring in general was down a lot this year. I mean, 87 points to lead the league, that's pretty crazy. But it just goes to show the ability that he has, and obviously their power play was really good there in Washington and he was able to take advantage of that. You know, everyone says, 'They're only power-play goals,' and even the one year I had a lot of power-play goals, well, if it was easy, everyone would be getting that many power-play goals. For him to score as many as he did, that goes to show how good their special team was, and obviously playing with a guy like Nick Backstrom is pretty impressive, too. I can obviously relate playing with a guy like Marty [St. Louis], who wants to get you the puck and feed you the puck. Ovi's been a great goal scorer and he'll continue to be that. It's pretty impressive to have him score that many goals in a year where offense was down as much as it was point production-wise, and it's pretty impressive.