Martin St. Louis, the first Lightning player to have his jersey retired and a central part of the team's Stanley Cup championship in 2004, is now headed to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
"It's an honor," St. Louis said Tuesday in a conference call with the four players and two builders in this year's class, who will be inducted Nov. 12 in Toronto. "For me to join the great players who are in now is unbelievable. I'm very thankful to the committee to value my impact on the game so much to make me a first-ballot inductee. It's an honor for me and my family."
St. Louis, 43, played 14 of his 17 NHL seasons with Tampa Bay from 2000-14. He is the franchise's all-time leader in total points (953) and assists (588), and ranks second behind Vincent Lecavalier in career goals (365) and games played (972). When the Lightning won their only championship in 2004, he won the Hart Trophy as the league MVP.
St. Louis went from not being drafted to playing 17 years in the NHL, most of them in Tampa. He started his career in Calgary and finished with the Rangers after a difficult and public split at the end of his career. Diminutive at 5-foot-8 but tough and prolific as a scorer, he was fondly welcomed home by fans in 2017 when his No. 26 was the first jersey retired at Amalie Arena.
He joins Dave Andreychuk, the captain from the 2004 championship team as prominent Lightning players in the Hall of Fame, and as the first to play most of his career with the Lightning. Andreychuk played only the final four seasons of his 23-year NHL career in Tampa Bay.
Denis Savard and Dino Ciccarelli, who each played parts of two seasons with the Lightning in the team's early years in the 1990s, are also in the Hall of Fame.
