St. Louis Blues

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Lore & Background

St. Louis's path to NHL stardom was anything but direct. After a standout college career at the University of Vermont, where he scored 267 points and remains the school's all-time leading scorer as of 2023, he went undrafted. He signed with the Calgary Flames in 1998 but was bought out and made an unrestricted free agent in 2000. Choosing the Tampa Bay Lightning because he believed they would give him playing time, St. Louis struggled early in the 2000–01 season before trusting his own instincts. His breakout came in 2002–03, finishing fourth in team scoring with 70 points and tying Vincent Lecavalier for the team lead with 33 goals. The 2003–04 season was historic: he captured the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer with 94 points, led the league in plus-minus at +38, and won the Hart Memorial Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Award as MVP. He led the 2004 playoffs with 15 assists and 24 points in 23 games, scoring the overtime winner in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Calgary Flames to force a Game 7, which the Lightning won for the franchise's first Cup.

In Their Own Story

The ice at the St. Pete Times Forum was electric on June 7, 2004. The air smelled of sweat and desperation, the crowd a cacophony of blue and white roaring for every shift. Martin St. Louis, skates carving deep into the surface, took a pass in the offensive zone. He deked past a Flames defenseman who had been shadowing him all series. The puck slid through the slot, a blur of black against the white ice, before finding the net past Miikka Kiprusoff with a satisfying thud that echoed off the rafters. It wasn't just a goal; it was an overtime winner that forced a deciding Game 7. Two nights later, the Lightning won 2–1, and St. Louis had secured the franchise's first Stanley Cup.

Reader's Guide

Martin St. Louis's career is a masterclass in perseverance and skill. Standing 5 feet 9 inches, he was often overlooked but proved that determination could overcome size. His 2003–04 season remains the gold standard: he won the Art Ross Trophy (94 points), the Hart Memorial Trophy, and the Lester B. Pearson Award. He also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy three times as the NHL's most gentlemanly player. At age 37 in 2013, he won his second Art Ross Trophy, becoming the oldest player to ever lead the NHL in scoring. He led the NHL in assists in two different seasons (2003–04 and 2012–13). Internationally, he won a gold medal with Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics and was a member of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey championship team. His number 26 was the first retired by the Lightning on January 17, 2017.

Did You Know?

• St. Louis went undrafted and was bought out by the Calgary Flames in 2000 before signing with Tampa Bay.
• He won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer in 2003–04 with 94 points and again in 2013 at age 37, becoming the oldest player to ever lead the league in scoring.
• St. Louis scored the overtime winning goal in Game 6 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Final against the Calgary Flames to force a deciding Game 7.
• He is the University of Vermont's all-time leading scorer with 267 points, a record he still holds as of 2023.
• St. Louis's number 26 jersey was the first to be retired in Tampa Bay Lightning history on January 17, 2017.