Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman says Lightning captain Steven Stamkos’ recovery is ‘on-course.’
As most every Tampa Bay Lightning fan knows at this point, the Bolts have been forced to deal with a ridiculous amount of injuries this season, which has wreaked havoc on team chemistry and sent the team’s playoff hopes into a tailspin. Throughout it all, there is one injury which has hit the team pretty hard.
Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos has been relegated to the sidelines since November 15th, almost one month to the day since the Lightning opened up their season against the Detroit Red Wings. Here we are, 35 games later, and Stamkos is still quite ways away from making his return to the ice.
It was the first period between the Lightning and the Red Wings when Steven Stamkos would battle for the puck along the boards. Suddenly, Stamkos takes a rather awkward fall.
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Almost immediately, you could tell something was wrong. While he would make his way off the ice under his own volition, this would be the last time Lightning fans would see Steven Stamkos on the ice for the foreseeable future.
The very next day, Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced the captain would be out indefinitely while he was being further evaluated by medical staff. Obviously, this is never a good sign, and a pretty good indication the injury is going to be something long-term.
Just 24 hours after Yzerman’s announcement, it was determined Steven Stamkos would be forced to miss at least four months while he recovered from a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee. This is the second time in recent history the captain would miss a majority of the season to a serious injury.
Here we are now, approaching three months since the injury that seemingly started the Tampa Bay Lightning’s downward spiral this season, and once again, people are looking for answers as to when the Lightning captain will be able to make his return to the ice. Unfortunately, there are few definitive answers right now.
On the flip side, there is at least a light at the end of what has been a seemingly endless tunnel filled with doom and gloom. According to Tampa Bay Lightning Beat Writer Bryan Burns, Steve Yzerman is confident things are going according to plan.
"“Every indication is that healing is right on-course and it’s going to heal and he’s going to be fine.”"
If everything is going according to plan, it will be some point in mid-March before Steven Stamkos will be able to make his return to the ice. Unfortunately, if things continue on the path they have been running full-speed down as of late, there may not be much of a season left for Stamkos to play in.
There is no “I” in team. In other words, Steven Stamkos is only one man and his loss shouldn’t have the profound adverse effect on the team it has; however, when a team is devoid of its entire leadership core, it’s almost like the inmates are running the asylum. This is not to say any of the players belong in an institution as much as it is indicative of the chaos being wreaked on the team’s ability to remain consistent.
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There is still plenty of hockey left to play this season; however, if the Tampa Bay Lightning don’t find a way to overcome the adversity thrown in their path this season and start to put a string of wins together, they are going to find themselves out of the postseason before the first puck is ever dropped.