Harvey Specter Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Congratulations to Martin St. Louis as he will suit up for his 1000th NHL game tonight in Los Angeles as his Tampa Bay Lightning set to play the Los Angeles Kings. He has been nothing but class his entire career and worked his way up to the big leagues to kudos to you good Sir! Below is an article/tribute post that Puck Daddy posted earlier today: Top 10 Marty St. Louis achievements, ahead of game No. 1,000 Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Los Angeles Kings, only three players involved will have played more than 900 career NHL games. Robyn Regehr and Eric Brewer will be two of the graybeards on the Staples Center ice, but another will be celebrating an achievement many thought would never come. Lightning captain Martin St. Louis will play in his 1,000th game Tuesday. That's 1,000 more than most imagined he would after graduating from the University of Vermont and watching the NHL offers never materialize. St. Louis' story checks off every box of the traditional hockey underdog. Undrafted? Check. Forced to play in minors to get attention? Check. Likeable? Check. Flourish elsewhere after getting cut from first professional team? Check. After two seasons in Calgary, with four goals and 20 points in 69 games, he was bought out and once again left to fight for his place in the hockey world. He was given the chance with the Lightning in 2000 and the rest is history; a history that will likely be documented on a plaque to hang in an old bank building on Yonge Street in Toronto one day. In honor of St. Louis' 1,000 games, here are 10 of his greatest achievements: 1996 NCAA tournament run with Vermont In 1996, St. Louis and teammate Eric Perrin would share the NCAA scoring title with a school-record 85 points. In his first season as captain of the Catamounts, he would help them win the first ECAC championship in school history and lead them to a berth in the Frozen Four. Of course, it was St. Louis who scored both goals during a 2-1 win over Lake Superior State to earn that berth. 2004 World Cup Scoring two goals and four points, including a goal and an assist during a 2-1 win over the U.S. in the first game of the tournament, St. Louis helped Canada win the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. He would later play all six games for Canada at the 2006 Torino Olympics and add back-to-back silver medals at the 2008 and 2009 World Champions. Small in stature, large in game At 5-foot-8, 180 lbs., St. Louis had to use his size to his advantage at the NHL level. He'd been productive in college and in the minors, but his speed and skill eventually helped cement him a place in the NHL and become of the league's best players for over a decade. No wonder he wears No. 26 in honor of Mats Naslund. Durability St. Louis keeps himself in great shape -- check out those quads! -- so it's no surprise that since the 2002-03 season he's missed only seven games. 2004 Hart Trophy It wasn’t even his best statistical season (43 goal, 102 points in 2006-07), but St. Louis ended the 2003-04 regular season with 38 goals and 94 points to not only win his first scoring title, but also take home NHL MVP honors, beating out Martin Brodeur and Jarome Iginla. Winning the award would put St. Louis in exclusive company because… 2004 Stanley Cup …days before winning the MVP, he became the first player since Wayne Gretzky in 1987 to win both the Hart Trophy and Stanley Cup in the same season. The Lightning would defeat the Calgary Flames in seven games for the franchise’s first title and St. Louis would finish with 24 points, two behind Conn Smythe trophy winner Brad Richards. Forcing Game 7 That championship would have never come without St. Louis’ heroics 33 seconds into double overtime of Game 6: The shootout spin-o-rama When the shootout is finally ridden from the NHL, we'll look back at St. Louis' creative attempts to the make the game-deciding venture fun: Oldest Art Ross Trophy winner While the scoring race was likely going to end up in the hands of Sidney Crosby, an injury to the Pittsburgh Penguins captain opened the door for St. Louis to become the oldest Art Ross Trophy winner in NHL history at age 37. In the 14 games after Crosby’s regular season ended, St. Louis scored 9 goals and 17 points to finish with 60, beating out teammate Steven Stamkos by three points. The nine years between Art Ross wins is also an NHL record. 1,000 games, undrafted Entering tonight: 348 goals, 932 point, Hart Trophy, a Pearson Award, two Art Ross Trophies, three Lady Byngs, a Stanley Cup, 68 points in 63 career playoff games, six All-Star Games, and one day the Hockey Hall of Fame. Thanks for all the great memories and to many more in your never-ending NHL career! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xbox Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Martin St. Louis is a legend and future HHOFer. What a great career he had, but it's not the end yet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disaronno Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 1000 games tonight! And only 284 PIM.... Unreal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Langdon Algur Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Future hall of famer for sure, and an inspiration to all future smaller kids that are told they will never make the NHL simply because they happen to be short. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tre Mac Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 GJ Calgary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmen81 Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Saw him and Eric Perrin play live in Vermont. Holy were they fun to watch, good thing they lost that game though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Aerosex Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 One of the greatest underdogs of all-time. The guy personifies determination. Hall of fame for sure once he retires, and a class act all the way. Nobody could've guessed he'd play 1000 games in the NHL, never mind the rest of his resume. Can't say anything but good things about Marty St. Louis. Congrats Martin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Industrious1 Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Great career, great player. He is also a person I see mentioned here on the boards a ton...mainly in the context of the "can Schroeder be successful in the NHL" question. His apprentice, Stamkos, is pretty good as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 I'd really like to see Burrows hit this number of games. Find his story almost as compelling, emerging from the ECHL-abyss, & going on to score some incredibly huge/clutch goals. Underdogs are everything in sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pears Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Arguably the best under-sized player to play the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Grimes Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Arguably the best under-sized player to play the game. Who is his competition? I can't think of anybody that has been as good as Marty with such a size "disadvantage" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Who is his competition? I can't think of anybody that has been as good as Marty with such a size "disadvantage" Fleury deserves mention. Interesting he served as Marty's inspiration. Considering the demons that bloke battled, TF's career was utterly incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Vintage Canuck- Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gross-Misconduct Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 He's such an awesome player and yet I've hesitated to draft him high in my hockey pool for the last few years cause I always think this will be the year he slows down. Then he proves me wrong time after time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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