He is only 22 years old and already earns eight million dollars a year just from the professional contract with his club Tampa Bay. There is no official confirmation of the revenue of the companies that have signed a contract with him for marketing cooperation.
Steven Stamkos is not only one of the players of the club of Florida in the best world-NHL, but he is its best player and one of the main actors in the US-Canadian hockey, to whom is predicted that will surpass the quality and fame of the legendary Wayne Gretzky. He is called sniper or killer because of his murderous shot, dribbling and the speed, that last season 2011/2012 earned him the epithet top scorer in the premier league with 60 goals scored. For his accident, he does not play in a strong club, Tampa Bay is one of the average American clubs in the last two years was not part of the playoff. According to experts, this is the only reason he has not scored many goals and crashed more records.
Stamkos was born in 1990 in the city of Markham, Ontario, Canada, into a family of first-generation Canadians of Macedonian descent. And his father Chris played hockey too. His mother Leslie is of Scottish origin. He has one younger sister, Sarah.
In March this year, Stamkos scored his 50th goal of the season, becoming the sixth player in the NHL who achieved so many goals before to reach 23 years. In the last match of the season he scored his 60th goal and became 20th player in NHL history to do so.
From error in the season to a money making machine
What makes him different from others is his ability to slip with full speed and at the same time to seek solutions for attack. Most of the other players must stop or slow down. Unlike them, Stamkos never stops, what gives him an advantage in the game. NHL coaches cannot put up a defense against him because he often gives impression that is passive in the game, after what at some point explodes. Although he is still young, he plays like a veteran, says his one-time mentor, Steve Sherman.
In the first year as a rookie almost the hockey experts declared him error of the season, when in the first 10 games he could not handle on the pitch, where, on average, he was spending only 10 minutes. And then, in February 2008, the wheel turned when against Chicago Black Hawks scored the first hat-trick. "From then on everything is a history," his father Chris said.
In his career he won two medals at the world championships. At the Junior Cup in 2008, mainly thanks to his games, Canada came to the gold medal, and the following year, after he was called into the senior team in Canada, came to the silver medal at the World Cup. In the finals, Canada lost to Russia, for Russia played his biggest competitors for the electionn best player in the league, Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin.
Besides his value as a player and a positive character, Stamkos for his mega popularity on the American continent is considered as a money making machine and as a goal of a range large corporations, who want to see his face on their ads. He is one of the brand names of "Nike", and because of the advertising contract with "Tissot", he is obliged to wear watches by this famous brand. He has time for charity actions too. He appeared in the video "you can play" within the campaign dedicated to fight homophobia in sports.
Favorite food- grandmother’s pie.
Stamkos was the first ethnic Macedonian who in 2008 managed to be the first choice of the NHL entry draft. Previously it succeeded to Ed Jovanovski, American hockey legend, who was the first choice in 1994. Despite Stamkos in US-Canadian hockey, active are Steve Stailos, Mike Zigomanis, Jose Theodore and Christopher Tanev, all with Macedonian origin, who inherited already retired Alec Stoyanov, Chris Kocopulos and Steve Gacos. Close friend to Stamkos and now his teammate in Tampa Bay, is another Hockey ace, Mike Angelidis, who is originally from Armensko, region in northern Greece. There are two other important Macedonian characters in the professional hockey, one of them is the owner of the Detroit Red Wings Mike Ilitch, and the other one is former owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Steve Stavro.
His favorite food is the traditional Maceonian pie, made by his grandmother.
During the recent visit of the Macedonian delegation of Canada within the road show, Steven Stamkos attended the meetings with Macedonian guests, which in this country were organized by the Macedonian community. He was interested in all aspects of the life in the country, primarily for the economy and the sport. Direct, unpretentious and witty. This is how a member of the Macedonian delegation describes him.
Greek community in the U.S. and Canada on the debates on the internet forums constantly tries to present Stamkos as a Greek. His father is from Banica, village near Lerin, from where his grandfather moved to Canada. The debates started in 2008, when Stamkos said that he is proud being part of the cultural heritage of the ethnic Macedonians.
His father, Chris Stamkos or Hristo Stamkov also was a hockey player, and in 1988 along with several other Macedonians arrived in Macedonia, and played for the team "All Macedonian stars" in an effort to promote the hockey in the former Yugoslav republic. He is proud that his son exceeded him in the hockey skills.
Stamkos is a frequent target of paparazzi and journalists who are interested in his private life. He is considered as one of the most attractive public figures and one of the most eligible bachelors in America. According to rumors that spread on the internet, last year he was in a relationship with the model Sandra Porzio. Last winter, at the charity auction, Steven decorated his gift with photography of Sandra, who, according to the media, is his love from high school. There are no official information whether they are still in a relationship.
Last year he signed a new five-year contract with Tampa Bay worth $ 37.5 million. "I never thought to go from here," Stamkos said after signing the contract. The head of the club, Sherman, is convinced that best years of Stamkos are in front of him. With his success achieved last year, Stamkos confirmed that Tampa Bay has done its best contract in the last few decades.
