Martin St. Louis retires, leaves behind amazing career

Martin St. Louis has nothing left to give. The New York Rangers right winger retired on Thursday afternoon, going almost unnoticed by the national media during the craze of NBA free agency. It is fitting, considering that is how his entire career went, despite constant brilliance from a man who was never supposed to make it.

St. Louis, 40, is listed at 5-foot-8 and 176 pounds. Frankly, that might be generous. The Quebec native appears to be a sure bet for the Hockey Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible, having scored 391 goals and amassing 1,033 points in his career. St. Louis also won a gold medal with Team Canada in 2014 and is a six-time All-Star with two Art Ross Trophies and a Hart Trophy to his name. He’s also one of the good guys in a sport filled with them, thrice named the Lady Byng Trophy winner.

However, none of it came easy for St. Louis, who entered the National Hockey League as an undrafted free-agent after playing at the University of Vermont. While Vermont is a fine school and has a good program, it certainly does not rank with the Boston College’s and Boston University’s of the world. St. Louis was signed by the Calgary Flames prior in the midst of the 1997-98 season, before breaking into the NHL the following year. After two years of scoring a combined 20 points in 69 games with Calgary, his contract was bought out.

When St. Louis signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning before the 2000 season, they were a team which to that point had known nothing but losing and sparse attendance. It was an ice hockey team in an empty arena while the temperature touched 90 degrees outside. It was a professional graveyard.

Yet it was there were St. Louis went from a fringe NHL player to becoming one of the best forwards the league has ever seen.

Next: St. Louis meets Stanley