During the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Stamkos trained with a handful of other NHL players at Gary Roberts' training academy in Ontario. The lockout also gave Stamkos an opportunity to do things in his hometown of Toronto he normally would not get to do. That included playing in his father's pick-up hockey league every Thursday night, when he and former Lightning forward Steve Downie would mix it up with a group that varied as much in age (22–65) as ability. On playing in his father's pick-up league, Stamkos said, "It was a blast, those guys loved it they don't get a chance to play with NHL guys very often." He added, "It was a lot of fun and something I'll cherish forever."