What a dilemma for the Tampa Bay Lightning game operations crew.
How do you treat the return of arguably the franchise’s greatest player after he turned his back on the team?
Do you cue up a sunny, good-ol’-days tribute video, one that honours his 12-season run in your sweater? Do you remind your diehard fans of the gentleman’s three Lady Byng trophies, his two Art Ross awards and the Hart?
On one hand this is a guy–undersized, undrafted–who scored 24 points in 23 playoff games to bring your city its first and only Stanley Cup championship, in 2004.
But to others, he is a turncoat, a team captain who requested a trade in the midst of a remarkable regular-season as a young, exciting Lightning squad surprised the hockey world by ending a playoff drought despite losing Steven Stamkos for the majority of the year with a broken leg.
Having his ego bruised by Lightning GM Steve Yzerman after he passed him over in the original selection of Team Canada’s Olympic team this past January, not only did Martin St. Louis want out, he submitted a destination list of one. (Complicating matters further, it would later come out that he begged out of Florida before, back in 2009.)
So when St. Louis returns to Tampa’s Amalie Arena Wednesday for the first time in enemy colours, which will reign: love or hate? Forgiveness or vengeance?
“To be honest, I don’t know. It’s going to be interesting,” Stamkos told Sportsnet last week.
A close friend of St. Louis’, Stamkos inherited Tampa’s captaincy after his winger was dealt to the Rangers at the 2014 deadline in exchange for Ryan Callahan and the Rangers’ first-round pick in the 2015 draft.
Stamkos, you might recall, defended his friend to the end, denying the trade rumours and taking a measure of solace that his absence from Sochi would help St. Louis realize his Olympic dream.
“It was pretty messy the way it ended,” Stamkos said. “For [the fans], some people are going to look at the guy who was so influential in the community and growing the game of hockey and bringing them a championship – the heart-and-soul guy that he was. And some people are just going to say, ‘He left.’ So, I think it’ll be mixed.”
“Mixed” is a kind word for what happens when the guy who wanted out comes back. We saw it already in Vancouver earlier this month — Ryan Kesler looking unsure how to act as a tribute video played to an uneasy smattering of cheers amidst a wave of full-throat jeers:
And the return to New York for Tampa’s Callahan — the other half of last season’s rare captain swap — was a little dicey, too. A pending UFA last year, “Captain Cally” didn’t exactly demand out; he just asked for so much money that it forced management’s hand.
Still, the Rangers played a thank-you montage, and the fans cheered.
“They didn’t have to do that,” Callahan told reporters after the Lightning thumped the Blueshirts 5-1 a week ago. “It shows how classy they are. The fans cheering — that shows how classy they are.”
Stamkos spoke to St. Louis after that game. He says St. Louis doesn’t have any reservations about his return, despite the freshness of the rejection some fans still feel.
“We don’t really talk about that stuff too much,” Stamkos said. “He wasn’t happy after we beat them, so I’m sure he’ll be fired up.”
St. Louis’s two-point night in the Rangers’ win over Montreal adds more fire to the return. The veteran is now just two points away from hitting 1,000 on his career. How rich would it be if he hit the plateau on his old home ice?
Word is, Lightning fans have been booing this year when old St. Louis highlights have flashed on the Jumbotron. Will that change if they have to jeer the man to his face?
