Faceoff Factor

Stamkos Prepared To Show Skill On World Stage

Jesse Marshall | NHL Entry Draft

Dec 17, 11:26 AM | Hype this story!

For those young players that are privileged enough to play in the World Junior Championships, there is nothing better than the world stage.

With a good performance comes a rise in draft stock. Conversely, a dud on the world stage can seriously detrimental to the talk that scouts put up about your name.

For Steven Stamkos, a poor showing at the WJC might not make a difference. For starters, few 17 year olds even make the tournament, so that in and of itself is an accomplishment, and on the home front, Stamkos’ accomplishments in Sarnia have been so overwhelming that they can’t be ignored.

Take Canada’s other 17 year old, for example. 2009 eligible John Tavares is also playing for Team Canada. And the world stage could be a chance for Stamkos to put his own name in the category of “phenom”.

After all, Stamkos has more goals than Tavares at this point of the year.

He’s impressed the Team Canada staff as well. Hockey Canada head scout Al Murray had the following to say about Stamkos:

“So many players come over the line and gain space and then they slow down to make their plays. He makes passes or creates scoring passes for himself at high speed and that’s really unusual. He’s like those Bugs Bunny cartoons where he’s everywhere. You look out and he’s the first guy in on the forecheck and then you see the play coming back to your own zone and he’s the first guy back to his own net to cover his check.”

For those privileged enough to watch the World Junior’s, keep an eye on Stamkos.

This is the first step on his journey to be the #1 overall pick in 2008.

For Faceoff Factor, Stamkos is above and beyond the rest of his class at this point. As great as 2007 forwards Patrick Kane and Sam Gagner are playing for their respective clubs, Stamkos is in another world.

His game is mature. His in-game smarts cannot be taught. He is NHL bred.

In fact, this December tournament in Paradubice is the first chance for NHL fans to catch a glimpse of a name they’ll be seeing for a long, long time.

2007/08 OHL Statistics: 32GP, 30G – 21A – 51PTS – 42PIM