The top restricted free agent of the off-season is now off the market, without even receiving an offer sheet, at least to his knowledge. "To be completely honest, I wasnt aware of any of those discussions," Steven Stamkos told TSN, a day after signing his new contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. "Obviously I heard the rumours, being in Toronto for the summer, but to be completely honest I was unaware of any conversations, if there were any." After another season in which the 21-year-old centre recorded more than 90 points, Stamkos signed a five-year, $37.5 million contract to stay with the Lightning for the foreseeable future. "Its crazy," said Stamkos. "Obviously Im very excited about the deal with Tampa and I cant thank the organization and family and friends enough. Its just amazing how fast time goes. I remember watching the NHL playoffs as a fan and now, three years later, I got my first taste of the playoffs and now signing a new deal. Im just very excited." The former first-overall draft pick helped Tampa Bay advance to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final - scoring 13 points along the way, and while he made it clear he wanted to stay, he stopped short of signing a mega-deal that would keep him in a Lightning uniform for the majority of his career. "The Collective Bargaining Agreement is up after this upcoming year and we have such a strong (Players Association) with Donald Fehr and the guys there are working great. And at the end of the day you dont expect any problems there but it was just something that worked for both teams. Things change a lot in five years and you just want to have that flexibility." With the five-year deal, Stamkos has set himself up to cash in with a possibly even bigger contract as a 26-year-old. "It seems so far down the road right now, I havent really thought that far. At the end of the day, that puts me one year past unrestricted free agency and its something that gives Tampa a year window to hopefully get things done, if everything goes well, and I can sign an extension there." But as the former "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner pointed out, he wont have to worry about contracts for a long time and right now he is just looking forward to playing the game hes loved his entire life, and enjoying more than ever right now. "Even more so now. Once you realize your dream has come true you just want to work harder and become an even better player. Now the pressure and expectations - especially after signing a deal like that - are more, but Im really excited." "I got my first taste of the playoffs last year and that was the most fun Ive ever had playing hockey in my life so I cant wait to get back there." Glen Rice Jersey . Niese said Monday that hes expecting to have a procedure called an ablation next month at the All-Star break to help the condition. 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Instead, they dropped their second straight game against the worst team in baseball on Tuesday night to keep them from wrapping up a playoff spot.CORTINA DAMPEZZO, Italy -- Swiss skier Lara Gut mastered a windy super-G Sunday in the final World Cup speed race before the Sochi Olympics, rediscovering the form that helped her win three straight races to open the season. For her fifth victory of this campaign -- but the first since Lake Louise, Alberta, in early December -- Gut clocked 1 minute, 27.81 seconds down the Olympia delle Tofane course. Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein finished second, 0.12 seconds behind, and Maria Hoefl-Riesch was third, 0.61 back, to maintain her lead in the overall World Cup standings. "Its important to think about skiing and not the result," Gut said. "At the start of the season there was talk about the overall and all those things and I couldnt think about skiing. "I just have to ski the way I can, then I can have a good result," Gut added. "Today it was just me and the slope." This race concluded a run of four speed events in four days, and Weirather was a contender each day. Her results were fourth, second, third and second. "Im proud of my consistency and the ability to perform well in every race," said Weirather, the daughter of champion skiers Hanni Wenzel and Harti Weirather. "Thats something new for me." A combination of strong wind and a tough course, set by Tina Mazes coach, Mauro Pini, led to 19 racers failing to finish. Light was also a factor, as the sun ducked in and out of clouds. Olympic champion Andrea Fischbacher of Austria crashed and slammed into the safety netting but got right back up and skied down without major injury. Maze, who won Saturdays downhill, finished fifth.dddddddddddd The tailwind was so strong when Hoefl-Riesch came down that the German was nearly blown off course over the final jump. Hoefl-Riesch landed outside the blue lines painted onto the snow to help guide skiers and had to rapidly change direction to clear the last gate. "I was just happy when I went over the finish line because it was a hard fight for me on the bottom," Hoefl-Riesch said. Other skiers were slowed by a headwind as the conditions constantly shifted, at times making the banner hanging over the finish line billow in the wind. When the winds finally calmed down, it enabled Marusa Ferk of Slovenia to finish 11th with the No. 49 bib. Chemmy Alcott of Britain, the next skier down, placed 23rd for her first World Cup points since rejoining the circuit this week after leg surgery. The top Americans were Stacey Cook in 13th and Julia Mancuso in 16th. In the overall standings, Hoefl-Riesch holds a 128-point lead over Weirather. In the super-G ranks, Gut leads by 38 points over Weirather with only one more super-G remaining -- at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, in March. The womens circuit moves to Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, for a giant slalom and slalom next weekend -- the final events before the Sochi Games open Feb. 7. Gut will be a threat in multiple events in Sochi. She said shes most excited about giant slalom but shell also be a contender in downhill and super-combined. "Im going to try to be like Bode (Miller) in the super-combined at the Olympics," Gut said. cheap nfl jerseys cheap soccer jerseys ' ' '