Steven Stamkos Day declared in Markham to honor Lightning captain

It's a new day in Markham, Ontario; Steven Stamkos Day, that is.

Frank Scarpitti, the longtime mayor of the Tampa Bay Lightning captain's hometown made the declaration on Saturday at a ceremony in Markham's Unionville neighborhood.
"Proud to proclaim Steven Stamkos Day in the City of Markham," Scarpitti wrote on Twitter. "Today, the pride of Unionville celebrates his day with the Stanley Cup in his hometown of Markham."

Scarpitti wrote a message of thanks to Stamkos for bringing the Cup to Markham in another tweet and that, "We are proud of your accomplishments."

"Everyone on stage and my dad Chris, everyone's been working behind the scenes to try to organize this as best we could to get as many kids out here to celebrate the Stanley Cup," Stamkos told the audience, as

by 680 News reporter Momin Qureshi. "That's what it's all about. It's about sharing this amazing piece of history with everyone who has helped me along the way."
The ceremony was held outside Crosby Memorial Community Centre in Unionville, where Stamkos first learned to play the game. The crowd was limited because of COVID-19 restrictions, but current players on his former team, the Markham Waxers, were on hand to get their pictures taken with the Cup.
"This is where I started playing hockey, right here at Crosby Arena," he said. "So this is a very special place for me and we couldn't have picked a better spot to be able to have everyone out and enjoy the Stanley Cup."
The Waxers had previously congratulated Stamkos, just one of the
program's notable alums
, on winning his second Stanley Cup and shared some old photos.

Stamkos is scheduled to have two days with the Cup and earlier tweeted a photo with his son Carter and the trophy.