Confirmed with Link: Martin St. Louis retires

[Hoek]

All great statements I agree with.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Really Andreychuk, how in the hell was he the most important player. He's a joke just like that statue out front, shouldn't be him holding the trophy there.

 

[Hoek]

Really Andreychuk, how in the hell was he the most important player. He's a joke just like that statue out front, shouldn't be him holding the trophy there.

You're kidding right? You're a Lightning fan and you say that? There's a reason he won both MVP awards in 2004 and we don't win the cup without him, especially not without that OT GWG in Game 6. If the Lightning don't win the cup that year, I wonder if we would even have a team now with all the disasters that ensued afterward. He put us on the map.

 

[Houdas]

You're kidding right? You're a Lightning fan and you say that?

you've been hosed

 

[Hoek]

you've been hosed

Yep. I'm taking the bait.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

You're a fun guy at parties, aren't you Hose?

"Hey, this is 100 year old single malt scotch is great!"

"Meh, it's overrated. Now this bathtub gin, this is some fine alcohol."

 

[snowden]

Meh. Who cares.

 

[Tampabear]

ask yourself this right now how does stamkos feel with all the marty st.louis hate? right now with his contract talks going on? think the lightning need to do something for marty because as of now he is the best lightning player ever.

Stamkos was one of the guys Marty walked out in in he middle of a playoff run. I don't have Marty hate. Couldn't care less about him though. I would rather see Vinny honored.

 

[xteesy]

Stamkos was one of the guys Marty walked out in in he middle of a playoff run. I don't have Marty hate. Couldn't care less about him though. I would rather see Vinny honored.

Marty lost his right to hoisting the banner when he walked. I don't hate the guy, I actually have to thank him for what he gave us by leaving.

He was far from the greatest player we've ever had. He might been the best on the ice, but Vinny is easily the Lightning's best player of all time.

 

[HoseEmDown]

You're kidding right? You're a Lightning fan and you say that? There's a reason he won both MVP awards in 2004 and we don't win the cup without him, especially not without that OT GWG in Game 6. If the Lightning don't win the cup that year, I wonder if we would even have a team now with all the disasters that ensued afterward. He put us on the map.

We wouldn't have won the cup without Fedotenko scoring both goals in game 7. There was a lot of players who helped us win that Cup. St. Louis didn't save the franchise.

Lecavalier was the franchise since he arrived with the ridiculous expectations placed upon him. Vinny was asked to be the man since he was 18, the franchise savior and he struggled with that on the ice at first but made up for it off the ice. St. Louis was just asked to play hockey, he wasn't asked to put the franchise on his back and lead. If Vinny just had to play hockey he would've been much more successful and had even more impressive numbers.

Edit: just look at Stamkos when he joined the team, all he had to do was play hockey and score goals. He did that because Vinny was still the man here. Once asked to carry the team he had his worst season since his rookie year. St. Louis sank when Vinny left and he had to be the man. Vinny stabilized the team through the worst periods the organization had, I doubt either of them could do that.

 

[xteesy]

We wouldn't have won the cup without Fedotenko scoring both goals in game 7. There was a lot of players who helped us win that Cup. St. Louis didn't save the franchise.

Lecavalier was the franchise since he arrived with the ridiculous expectations placed upon him. Vinny was asked to be the man since he was 18, the franchise savior and he struggled with that on the ice at first but made up for it off the ice. St. Louis was just asked to play hockey, he wasn't asked to put the franchise on his back and lead. If Vinny just had to play hockey he would've been much more successful and had even more impressive numbers.

For the first time in a very, very long time - we actually agree on something.

 

[More 2004]

Simply put, thank you Marty. You made this team exciting even when we were the absolute suck. Best wishes.

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

im ok with marty he did us a favor shoot im so ok if stamkos said i will do an 5 year deal at 8.5 if you sign marty for a year obviously having to move carle at say 2.5 for marty id vote for a yes even though maybe have to move on from brown or put someone on waivers etc..

is all good he made a mistake we all do that how he handled self things he said were bad being a captain during a young teams cup run i side always with yzerman it was flat out bad so if yzerman does nothing for him anytime soon im ok with that

i think he will though come around in time i think marty retiring a ranger not signing a new deal shows his point of i think i have 2 years left i think they have a better shot then this team with a ton of kids he didnt see kucherov would have this leap or all the new bodies

he was just going on his instincts it happens so whatever happens im fine with it

 

[Coopers Gum]

Damn. Wow.

In my mind, Marty was the best Lightning ever. Someone said it best: Best player the Lightning ever had, but the worst captain. The dude never gave up on a shift. But he gave up on the team. Can't really say the same for Vinny, and I love that guy to death. That being said, yes, 4 should be raised to the rafters before 26 is. And I hope what FP said isn't true. I'm a pretty big fan of the "retired jersey" concept. Either that or honor it, and don't put a ban on the number. I'd love to see those numbers in the rafters.

The UVM legend retires. Thanks for everything Marty.

EDIT: By the way, in case no one knew, he was the reason I became a Lightning fan. Dude is a god in this state.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

#neverskippedlegday

 

[Sky04]

We wouldn't have won the cup without Fedotenko scoring both goals in game 7. There was a lot of players who helped us win that Cup. St. Louis didn't save the franchise.

Lecavalier was the franchise since he arrived with the ridiculous expectations placed upon him. Vinny was asked to be the man since he was 18, the franchise savior and he struggled with that on the ice at first but made up for it off the ice. St. Louis was just asked to play hockey, he wasn't asked to put the franchise on his back and lead. If Vinny just had to play hockey he would've been much more successful and had even more impressive numbers.

Edit: just look at Stamkos when he joined the team, all he had to do was play hockey and score goals. He did that because Vinny was still the man here. Once asked to carry the team he had his worst season since his rookie year. St. Louis sank when Vinny left and he had to be the man. Vinny stabilized the team through the worst periods the organization had, I doubt either of them could do that.

Wrong, guy gave up on the team the first 2 years after his injury and played like crap dispite putting up points, he didnt' stabilize **** while we drafted 1st and 2nd overall those years and MSL was the only lightning who showed up.

The only year Vinny showed life was the 2011 season led by MSL.

MSL is the only captain to actually keep his production up while wearing the C, so far Stamkos and Vinny haven't been able to do both.

"If Vinny was just asked to play hockey he'd be more successful" that's such a laughable excuse considering he was 29 was he got named captain the 2nd time and the first time he was too immature and got stripped.

 

[Sky04]

Really? We're gonna have a **** ton of statues out there on the plaza. Vinny & Marty both have to have some sort of thing.

Well I doubt anyone wears 4 or 26 again in a Lightning uniform regardless.

 

[evermix*]

Why are people mad at Marty for wanting out? How can you blame in? Your GM snubs you by picking worse players than you like Matt Duchene, Patrick Sharp and so on at the Olympics. It's not like Yzerman would've been doing him a favor by picking him initially, he earned that spot fair and square, and was still passed over, by his OWN GM to top it all off. I don't blame him one bit for wanting a trade, who would want to play for someone that doesn't have faith in you. Marty wanting out had nothing to do with the team or the city or fans, it was against his GM, in which he had every right to. In addition to all this, he took in and groomed Stamkos.
Vinny, and especially Marty will have their numbers raised. They got this franchise their first Cup, and put them on the map.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

Why are people mad at Marty for wanting out? How can you blame in? Your GM snubs you by picking worse players than you like Matt Duchene, Patrick Sharp and so on at the Olympics. It's not like Yzerman would've been doing him a favor by picking him initially, he earned that spot fair and square, and was still passed over, by his OWN GM to top it all off. I don't blame him one bit for wanting a trade, who would want to play for someone that doesn't have faith in you. Marty wanting out had nothing to do with the team or the city or fans, it was against his GM, in which he had every right to.

Vinny, and especially Marty will have their numbers raised. They got this franchise their first Cup, and put them on the map.

Do some research about who exactly wanted MSL on that team, who didn't, and why he wasn't initially picked, and then go away and feel bad for posting while uneducated.

 

[Hockeyfan02]

Why are people mad at Marty for wanting out? How can you blame in? Your GM snubs you by picking worse players than you like Matt Duchene, Patrick Sharp and so on at the Olympics. It's not like Yzerman would've been doing him a favor by picking him initially, he earned that spot fair and square, and was still passed over, by his OWN GM to top it all off. I don't blame him one bit for wanting a trade, who would want to play for someone that doesn't have faith in you. Marty wanting out had nothing to do with the team or the city or fans, it was against his GM, in which he had every right to. In addition to all this, he took in and groomed Stamkos.
Vinny, and especially Marty will have their numbers raised. They got this franchise their first Cup, and put them on the map.

A committee picked that team, not just Steve Yzerman. He was apart of it but not the only one making the choices. Yzerman separated his roles as Lightning GM and Team Canada GM during that process. Yzerman wants to win, he's not going to play favorites. If the coaching staff didn't have a role for him(and judging by his time in some of the games there, they didn't), Yzerman wasn't going to override them. "Lesser" players like Duchene and Sharp outscored him last year btw.

 

[2MinutesforGiraffing]

The only year Vinny showed life was the 2011 season led by MSL.

Yeah, no.

Vinny was hampered by injuries. He wasn't as consistent or as dedicated as Marty on the ice, but he sure as hell did more for the franchise overall. He wanted to play for Tampa Bay and always said that openly, while Marty made snide remarks to the press and hemmed and hawed about staying.

 

[The Macho King]

Nevar 4get

 

[LightningStrikes]

He should've used this pic:

 

[Oxbow Lakes]

This caught me totally off guard, expected him to play one more season at least..

Anyway, not going to write too much about this, just wanted to say that the trade still hurts despite the great return we got and that he is one of my all time favorites and played a huge part with Vinny for me becoming a Lightning fan.

Thank you for everything Marty.

 

[Iceman]

Nevar 4get

Damn shorties!