Steven Stamkos’ farewell letter: ‘I’m going to miss you a lot, Bolts fans’

Penning a farewell letter to Lightning fans in The Players’ Tribune, former Lightning captain Steven Stamkos thanked Tampa Bay and Bolts fans for embracing him since he first arrived in the area 16 years ago as a wide-eyed 18-year-old.

“I wanted to be the one who lived up to the hype, who took the organization where it dreamt to go,” Stamkos wrote. “I remember those ‘Seen Stamkos?’ billboards in 2008 and how much faith the Lightning put in me, and I hope I repaid it.

“I wish this last season had ended differently, but I’ll remember those good times for as long as I live. ... I’m going to miss you a lot, Bolts fans.”

In the letter titled, “Thank you, Tampa Bay,” Stamkos said leaving the Lightning was “heartbreaking.”

“These past few weeks have been bittersweet,” Stamkos wrote. “I never thought this day would come. I did everything I felt I could do to make it work, but sometimes things just happen. It didn’t work. … But my family and I, we’re human, you know? Tampa is home. It’s where our three kids were born. … It’s where our memories are. It’s always going to mean so much to us.”

Stamkos, who signed a four-year, $8 million deal with the Predators on July 1 after offseason negotiations to re-sign him broke down, reminisced about his experience growing from a No. 1 overall pick as a teenager who came to Tampa not knowing how to buy a cell phone — he said he wandered up Dale Mabry Highway “totally lost” looking to purchase a phone — overcoming a litany of injuries and captaining back-to-back Stanley Cup teams.

He wrote about learning about accountability and hard work from Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis as a young player, how coach Jon Cooper injected swagger into the dressing room when he became head coach in 2013, and how becoming a faster, forechecking team fueled the Lightning into the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.

Stamkos went in depth about the 2020 playoffs in the bubble during the pandemic, leaving the bubble to be with his pregnant wife Sandra and the miscarriage the couple endured. And then Stamkos returning to the team to score perhaps his most iconic goal in Game 3 of the Cup final, but not before tearing his core muscle making his move toward the net.

While winning his first Cup that season was remarkable, Stamkos wrote that being able to win again in 2021 on home ice and celebrating it with Lightning fans at Amalie Arena was remarkable.

“It was exactly how I dreamt it. At home. Packed arena. Great playoff run. Great final. Lifting the Cup in front of everyone. Sharing it with you, Tampa. It was beyond words.”

The next morning Stamkos’ oldest son, Carter, ate his Sesame Street Alpha-Bits cereal out of the Stanley Cup with Stamkos surrounded by family, friends and teammates.

“I was looking at him and just thinking, like, ‘Man, what a special moment this is.’ ... I’ll remember that image forever. Forever. It just kind of captured so much about what our time in Tampa has meant — how it became home.”

Stamkos finished the letter saying he’s looking forward to his first game back at Amalie Arena. The Lightning host the Predators on Oct. 28.

“And when the time comes to play down in Tampa, it’ll be nice to be home again.”

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