Countdown to St. Louis jersey retirement: Top 10 Marty moments

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
January 5, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. – The career of former Lightning captain Marty St. Louis will be honored on the night of Jan. 13 when his jersey will rise to the rafters inside Amalie Arena in an hour-long ceremony.

With such a long and storied history while playing for Tampa Bay, there is a lot to be honored. The ceremony itself is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. before facing the Columbus Blue Jackets, which is not scheduled to begin until 8 p.m.

As we get close to the night the first retired jersey in franchise history, let’s start a countdown of the the top 10 moments for St. Louis involving the Lightning jersey. Hopefully you’ll remember some of those moments with deep fondness and remember what St. Louis truly meant to the franchise and how he helped them become champions along the way.

Check back each day leading up to the jersey retirement ceremony.

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No. 1 – Double overtime goal in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final

It’s easily the most iconic in-game moment in franchise history. With the Stanley Cup in the bowels of the Saddledome and the entire nation of Canada anticipating a return of the Cup to the country, the Lightning and Flames were tied heading in to the second overtime.

Early in the that second overtime, using the hockey sense and anticipation he always showed, St. Louis was low in the Calgary zone as Jassen Cullimore pushed a puck back to the point where Tim Taylor was covering the left point and threw a puck on net. Mikka Kiprusoff would make the save, but there was St. Louis in the right place and the right time to score the winning goal, instantly quieting the raucous crowd and sending the series back to Tampa for a decisive Game 7 to give the Lightning the only championship in franchise history.



No. 2 – Triple overtime goal clinches first series victory in franchise history

The up-and-coming, young Lightning were in just the second playoff series in franchise history. After falling behind 0-2 in the series that started on home ice, Tampa Bay did not have history on its side in trying to come back in the series.

But the Lightning had one three consecutive games to take a 3-2 series lead heading in to Game 6 at Verizon Center on April 20, 2003, with St. Louis registering the game winner in Game 4 and 5. So it was only fitting that St. Louis proved the hero once again to give Tampa Bay its first playoff series victory. St. Louis wheeled around the back of the Washington net and emerged on the other side, lifting a shot from below the right circle over the shoulder of Olie Kolzig 4:03 in to the third overtime session.

No. 3 – St. Louis collects an armful of awards

While still bearing the stitched up cup on his forehead courtesy of a high stick from Andrew Ference, Marty St. Louis arrived in Toronto for the annual NHL awards show looking to take home some hardware for the incredible campaign during 2003-04 season that made him a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the league MVP.

By the end of the day, St. Louis skated away with the Lester Pearson (now called the Ted LIndsay) Trophy as the top player as voted on by the NHLPA, the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in scoring with 94 points and the Hart Trophy as MVP, as voted on the the Professional Hockey Writer’s Association.

St. Louis became the first professional athlete playing for a Tampa area team to win a league MVP award.

No. 4 – Four goal game against San Jose

During the inaugural game in Lightning franchise history, Chris Kontos scored four goals in a victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 7, 1992. That record had never been matched ever since. Through all the offensive talent this team has employed through the years, none ever reached the four-goal mark.

That all changed on Jan. 18, 2014, when St. Louis finally matched the mark set by Kontos in the first game in team history. By the end of the first period, St. Louis registered a hat trick, scoring his third goal of the period with 30 seconds remaining. Then on the power play early in the second, St. Louis tied the franchise record for goals in a game, notching his fourth just 2:07 in to the middle frame, one-timing a pass from Teddy Purcell past Antti Niemi.

No. 5 – Overtime series clinching goal vs. NY Islanders

With a commanding 3-1 lead in the opening round series against the New York Islanders, the Lightning saw a third period lead slip away as they looked to close out the series on April 16, 2004. Mark Parrish tied the game at 7:48 of the third period as New York looked to force a Game 6 back in New York the next night.

But St. Louis, who was just starting to emerge as one of the top clutch players in the league, showed once again why he was one of the top players of the game. In the opening minutes of overtime, St. Louis took a pass from Fredrik Modin, who forced the turnover in the neutral zone for his third assist, and as St. Louis skated in the zone unleashed a slap shot from the left circle that went bar down at the 4:07 mark of the first overtime to give Tampa Bay the 3-2 victory and the series victory in five games to advance to the second round for the second consecutive year. St. Louis finished the game leading the Lightning with 28 minutes, 58 seconds of ice time

No. 6 – St. Louis named ninth captain in franchise history

Though St. Louis had long been an instrumental voice in the Lightning locker room and in many ways the emotional leader of the team for many years, he always wore the “A” on his jersey as an alternate captain, even though he was truly co-captain alongside Vinny Lecavalier for years.

But when Lecavalier was bought out of the remaining years on his contract following the 2012-13 season, the Lightning were without a captain heading in to training camp. But on Oct. 1, 2013, just prior to the start of the 2013-14 season, an invitation-only even was held at Mahaffey Theater in downtown St. Petersburg where the team would introduce the opening night roster, as well as the team’s new captain – Marty St. Louis, making official what many had anticipated would happen.

No. 7 – Playoff shorthanded goal vs. NY Islanders

Coming off a season in which he won the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer, St. Louis also led the league with eight shorthanded goals. While some questioned whether or not that could carry over to the postseason, he showed exactly why he would go on to be named MVP of the regular season with a spectacular shorthanded goal in Game 4 of the opening round series against the New York Islanders on April 14, 2004.

St. Louis pressured New York defenseman Kenny Jonsson, picked his pocket (and maybe got away with a bit of a hook) and the spun him around like a top, leaving Jonsson spinning out behind him as he swooped in on goaltender Rick DiPietro at the 10:30 mark of the first period and beat the New York goalie five-hole to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead.

The goal is No. 6 on this video highlight package.

No. 8 – St. Louis honored for 1,000th career NHL game

Marty St. Louis didn’t make his NHL debut until the age of 23 on Oct. 9, 1998 with the Calgary Flames and didn’t become an everyday player until the age of 25 when he signed with the Lightning. Even through two labor stoppages, including the 2004-05 season that was completely lost, St. Louis was able to reach the 1,000 game mark due to his incredible durability that included a consecutive games played streak of 499 games.

St. Louis reached the 1000-game plateau on Nov. 19, 2013, against the Los Angeles Kings and a ceremony was held for reaching the achievement when the team returned home to face the New York Rangers on Nov. 25, 2013. Former teammate Brad Richards took part in the ceremony in which St. Louis received a commemorative silver stick, an illustrated framed timeline of his first 1,000 games, a Tiffany crystal from the league, a Rolex watch and a special scrap book featuring newspaper articles from his career.

No. 9 – St. Louis returns to Tampa for the first time following trade

Many Tampa Bay fans were still feeling bitter about the trade of St. Louis to the New York Rangers on March 5, 2014, and the manner in which it came about. So how St. Louis would be treated in his first game back to Tampa while wearing a Rangers uniform was a constant top of discussion in the days leading up to his return.

But following a tribute video shown on the video board, St. Louis received a standing ovation and returned the gesture by thanking the fans.

No. 10 – 2007 NHL All-Star game in Dallas

The Lightning had been a franchise in the league since 1992 and sent plenty of players to participate in the NHL All-Star game through the years – Brian Bradley, Roman Hamrlik, Fredrik Modin, Pavel Kubina, Vinny Lecavalier among others – but despite how wide-open and high-scoring the All-Star game had become through the years, no Lightning player had ever scored a goal in the showcase competition.

But that finally changed with the 2007 game which took place at American Airlines Center on Jan. 24, 2007. At the 13:07 mark of the first period, St. Louis put home a pass from Lecavalier to mark the first time any Lightning player had recorded a goal in All-Star game history. That goal can be seen in this high quality – how times have changed in a short period – video.

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