Lightning celebrate Stamkos' 500th goal in pregame ceremony

Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning had 500 reasons to celebrate Tuesday.

The Lightning held a special ceremony to honor Stamkos for scoring his 500th career goal prior to their game against the Minnesota Wild at Amalie Arena in Tampa.
Stamkos was joined by his wife, Sandra, and his two sons, Carter and Chase, on the ice for the ceremony.
The Lightning captain
scored his 500th goal against the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 19
. He became the third active player to achieve the milestone, joining Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby and Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin.
Crosby and Ovechkin created special video messages for Stamkos on his achievement.
"Congrats with the 500 goals. It's a huge accomplishment," Ovechkin said in the video. "Welcome to the club. Best of luck, keep it going."

"Hey 'Stammer,' just wanted to congratulate you on 500 goals," Crosby said in his video. "You have been lighting it up since you got in the League, and 500 goals is impressive, but to do it at the pace you have done it at is incredible. So keep it going, and I hope you have a great night celebrating."
After the video, the Lightning announced their donation of 500 meals to the Ronald McDonald House in Tampa Bay, the charity Stamkos and his wife work closely with.
Stamkos was also gifted an exclusive golf weekend by his teammates.
Lightning owner Jeffrey Vinik presented Stamkos with the commemorative stick marking the occasion. Carter and Chase couldn't keep their hands off the stick.

Luckily for the boys, Lightning mascot Thunderbug presented them with their own commemorative gold pucks.
It's not clear whether Carter was more excited for the gifts or appearing on the arena jumbotron.