Elite expectations for Lightning's Stamkos

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper points out, via The Tampa Bay Times, the sort of obligation captain and superstar has created for himself.

"When you carry the name Steven Stamkos, you probably have a little extra obligation," Cooper said. "The standard is a little higher than probably your everyday player. There are a handful of players who have a name that weighs as much as Steven Stamkos'. He didn't ask for that. He made that name for himself in the way he plays.

"If it's a situation where he thinks he's played less than that, it's because he has set the bar so high, it becomes expected of him. That's what makes it tougher for him. Now you've got to play at such an elite level that the second you slip up and play like a mere mortal, it looks like you're not on top of your game. That's tough for him, but it's why he's a superstar."

In the article Stamkos notes, "I don't think I'm to the level I was at before the injury yet."

He also talks about how he's tried to handle the captaincy and which, if any, changes come with that letter.

Source: Gary Shelton, Tampa Bay Times