The Tampa Bay Lightning already knew that they had a legend in Steven Stamkos. He has been one of their best players ever since they made him the first overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft.
Once they started adding players like Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, and Andrei Vasilevskiy amongst others, they became an elite team built around Stamkos. As a result, he has led them to the Stanley Cup Final four times and has won two of them.
Stamkos has been one of the best players in the league for a long time. Through it all, he has two Stanley Cups, a World Cup of Hockey championship, two Rocket Richard Trophies, and multiple All-Star appearances.
On Thursday, Stamkos cemented his Hall of Fame legacy (as if he didn’t already) by earning his 1000th point. It came in the form of an assist on a goal scored by Nick Paul against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Steven Stamkos has his 1000th career National Hockey League point.
This goal scored by Paul was his second of the game and it served as the game-winner in Tampa’s 4-1 win over the Flyers. This was a great way for Stamkos to get his 1000th point.
Reaching 1000 points is very special in the NHL. It is even more special when you do it before reaching your 1000th game. Stamkos did this in his 945th game, which is remarkable.
This is even more special when you remember some of the injury struggles that he dealt with earlier in his career. It has been so easy to root for him after all these years because he overcame a lot and is a genuinely good dude.
The next order of business for Stamkos is scoring his 500th career goal. He needs six more of those in order to reach that feat. It has been an incredible run, and he has so much more left in the tank at 32 years old.
Stamkos’s 1000 points are pretty close to being split down the middle in terms of goals and assists, but early in his career, there were a lot of goals. Now, he is clearly equally as good of a playmaker, which has helped him become a better player.
The Lightning are going to be good enough to be contenders for a while, which will help Stamkos stay extra productive as he gets into his 30s.
That is good for NHL fans because he is so much fun to watch. He is well deserving of this milestone and all of the positive vibes. He’ll be a Hall of Famer for sure.