After bitter divorce, Lightning will retire Martin St. Louis' No. 26
After a rough divorce a few years ago, it appears that Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning are ready to hug it out.
The team announced Thursday morning that it will retire St. Louis' No. 26 this season. The team will hold a ceremony prior to a Friday night game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 13, 2017. It will be the first number to be retired in team history, though Vincent Lecavalier's No. 4 shouldn't be far behind.
St. Louis is the Lightning's all-time leading scorer with 953 points (365 goals and 588 assists) in 972 games over 13 seasons with the team. He was also an integral part of Tampa Bay's Stanley Cup run in 2004.
"To have my number retired by the Lightning is a tremendous honor and I'd like to thank Jeff Vinik and everyone in the organization for recognizing me this way," said St. Louis in a press release. "I have many great memories in Tampa Bay, including our great Stanley Cup win, and this night will be extremely special and emotional for my family and me.
Standing at 5-foot-8 and entering the NHL as an undrafted free agent, St. Louis is one of the league's best underdog stories. He is a six-time All-Star, a three-time Lady Byng winner, a two-time Art Ross scoring champion and a former MVP.
St. Louis had a falling out with the Lightning in 2014 when the team's general manager, Steve Yzerman, who also served as GM of Team Canada for the 2014 Winter Olympics, elected to leave the winger off of Canada's initial roster for Sochi. Feeling disrespected by Yzerman, St. Louis requested a trade. The team honored his request by dealing him to the New York Rangers at the trade deadline.
In the end, St. Louis would get to play for Team Canada after replacing the injured Steven Stamkos on the roster, and he would ultimately win gold in Sochi. When it was all said and done, St. Louis expressed regret for the bitter divorce and how it affected his relationship with fans in Tampa Bay.
Fortunately, it seems that the damage done wasn't beyond repair and St. Louis will receive an honor he rightly deserves this season.
