Former captain's trade kickstarts era of excellence for Lightning
There were a lot of hurt feelings in Tampa Bay 14 months ago when former captain Martin St. Louis demanded a trade out of town after Tampa general manager Steve Yzerman left St. Louis off the Canadian Olympic team roster. St. Louis said at the time that the trade was what would be best for himself and his family, but according to SportsNet, the trade ended up helping the Lightning as well.
St. Louis was replaced as captain by the much younger Steven Stamkos, and the players Tampa received from the New York Rangers in return for St. Louis (defenseman Anton Stralman and forwards Ryan Callahan and Brian Boyle) have all made big impacts on the Lightning roster.
As SportsNet pointed out, fans only need to watch the games to see the benefits for Tampa Bay.
"One month shy of [St. Louis's] 40th birthday, he's yet to score during the post-season and had a tough stretch in Monday's Game 2 loss -- whiffing on a golden opportunity early before losing the puck to Tyler Johnson on a 5-on-3 power play and crashing into Henrik Lundqvist while trying to get back on the breakaway goal," SportsNet wrote. "Afterwards, when Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said 'a couple of our guys didn't have their best game tonight,' he seemed to be pointing directly at St. Louis and snakebitten sniper Rick Nash."
Tampa fans will have the opportunity to remind St. Louis of all he left behind when the Rangers travel to Tampa Bay for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night.
(h/t SportsNet CA)
Photo credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
