2008 WJC: Steven Stamkos No. 1 with a Sting

The smallish, but highly skilled Canadian Steven Stamkos is the clear cut favourite for the first overall pick in this summer's NHL draft. McKeen's correspondent Jante Abrahamsson offers this profile of Stamkos following his success and gold medal achievement for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship in the Czech Republic.

Much of the success he has enjoyed in his blossoming hockey career, he actually attributes to playing other sports. When Steven Stamkos grew up in the Toronto, it was not just all about hockey for him. Instead, he also played sports like soccer, lacrosse and baseball all the way up to his early teens. Something that has been beneficial for him as a hockey player, the 17-year old argues.

"I certainly think it has helped as an athlete. I think lacrosse has helped my agility and just like baseball, it is also great for your hand-eye coordination".

Being an offensive minded, undersized, hockey player makes it natural for his game to be about skill and speed. However, those abilities were not handed to him by birthright, as Stamkos has worked diligently to improve every facet of his game for a long time.

"Every summer I went to this hockey school in Toronto to work on my stickhandling skill and details like that, and I think that has really helped me a great deal", he says.

Hedman the Nemesis

During the World Junior Championships, Stamkos twice had to faceoff with an already familiar adversary – Victor Hedman. Both of them will most likely be in the NHL together for decades to come and Stamkos has built a significant amount of respect for the Swedish rearguard.

The World Junior final this year, was actually the first time that Stamkos ever won a hockey game with Victor Hedman playing for the other side. The first time they encountered one another was at the U18 World Junior Championships last spring, followed by another clash at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament last August.

"Victor Hedman is an amazing player. Every time I've met him, he has been extremely difficult to play against".

"In other cases with defenseman at his size, you just have to skate hard and everything will work out fine in the end. But that just doesn't work against Hedman, since he is such an incredible skater for a guys his size", Stamkos adds.

Victor Hedman also knows Stamkos' on-ice persona quite well by now and is well aware of the qualities the little Canadian, almost seemingly half the size of the gigantic Swede, possesses.

"He's very quick, got good hands and is creative and all that. But I would also like to point that he isn't a one-dimensional type-of-player. I think he works for his team in all three zones", is Hedman's take on Stamkos.

Heavy Pressure

There is no denying that this season is filled with pressure for Stamkos. Something he certainly lived through during the World Junior Championship in Czech Republic, where he day in and day out, had to face a large Canadian press corps and having to deal with the expectations of being one of the guys who should get it done offensively for the Canadian team.

"There has been a lot of coverage of the team and judging from a lot of the stories written, it was almost like we got the gold medal handed to us in advance. But basically, you just have to distance yourself from whatever the media writes and focus on doing your job", Stamkos says.

"As for this being my draft year, there's no denying that it adds another extra layer of pressure on myself. You know that the arena is filled with NHL scouts and that how you perform here at this tournament matters. But at the end of the day, you have to have fun playing the game and try to help the team in the best way possible".

In the end, this tournament obviously ended on a high note for Stamkos, being an important part of Canada's fourth consecutive gold medal team.

"Obviously we got nervous heading into the overtime in the final, but we managed to battle through it and winning the gold here, with all the great support from all the Canadian fans over here, is just an incredible feeling".

"Just being a part of this team is fantastic and I think I helped the team out the best that I could".

Capturing the World Junior gold medal, lifted one heavy stone of pressure from Stamkos' shoulders. Now, he can move on to the next obvious goal for him this season – being the first overall pick in the NHL draft.