St. Louis gets an A

As we saw in today's paper, Marty St. Louis will wear an A as an alternate captain next season, joining Brad Richards and Vinny Lecavalier.

St. Louis, 32, always has been a good leader but much of it has been behind the scenes. He gets rewarded and some much-deserved public recognition because captain Tim Taylor could miss the entire season because of major surgery on his right hip. You know that story, of course. Taylor, 38, played last season with a degenerative right hip that required two cortisone shots. He hoped to avoid surgery and play the last year of his contract, and his playing career, as he did last season. But Taylor said Thursday his hip has gotten so bad, he can no longer jog and can't sleep without an anti-inflammatory drug to cut the pain. So surgery is a must and could happen in September. After three weeks in which he will not be able to walk without help, Taylor faces a best-case four-month rehab that could get him back on the ice by February. Or perhaps he doesn't play at all.

GM Jay Feaster said Taylor will remain as captain while he rehabs with the team, but St. Louis gets the A to bolster the locker room's leadership.

"This is a natural extension of the leadership in the room already," Feaster said.

Said St. Louis: "I'm flattered and honored to wear the A.''

This is a great and deserving move by the Lightning. St. Louis is the 2003-04 regular-season MVP and last season had career highs of 43 goals, 59 assists and 102 points. He also is one of the reasons Vinny Lecavalier had the year that he did. Vinny is an outstanding talent but St. Louis pushed him to work hard on the ice every shift. Even Lecavalier said you can't watch St. Louis play and not want to keep up with him. Forget anything that happens in the locker room. That is real leadership.

Read the entire story in today's paper.

Comments

[Joe]

I agree with Lightning Rod. It is Taylor's place to surrender the captaincy. I do not think that anyone should tell him what to do, but (at the sakme time) he has a responsibility to the team as well, and he needs to consider his age, his diminutive playing time, the severity of his physical condition, and the changing character of the Lightning lineup.

I hope Taylor weighs these factors judiciously and the Lightning find a place in the organization for him when he feels that he is ready to pull the plug on his playing career.

Tim is a very good man!

[Lightning rod]

Philip, I'm not an authority, but I believe that I know some of the aspects of hockey tradition/respect. I had my first pair of skates at 3; and grew up, until I was 10, in the far north. I didn't know any other sport existed, until my family moved here. My dad played a very limited time in the minors (to slow), and 3 close family friends were in the Toronto and Montreal organizations in the 50's and early 60's.

During the CUP year, Capt. Dave and also Taylor had a tremendous influence on the rest of the team, especially the younger guys. Both of them had/have years of NHL experience, including years in the playoffs; and their reputations were/are of high character players. These factors equate to and command respect, from teammates and hopefully the organization. Winning the CUP only added to that respect and deference. Capt. Dave retired; and the C was rightly (my opinion) passed to Taylor. He played hurt last year (more respect), and he is at or near the end of his career. Since he has stated that he wants try and come back after his surgery, combined with the respect factor, the team is not going to take the C from him. It basically up to him to give it up on his own, or he decides to retire.

[mbab]

the heart of the team....i don't think anyone...anywhere would not applaud a big "C" on his jersey....i said it before....look up hockey player in the dictionary and you see a picture of marty st. louis......in my mind the real mvp of this team......put him on any line in the league and it will be better overnight......vinnie and brad have had awesome years in the past....no coincidence that the best year they both had was when marty was their linemate....just the facts ma'am....I only wish he was 27 so we could see vinnie and him together for about 7-10 more years....what we really need is two of him...one for vinnie and one for brad.......where's walt disney when we need him!!!!!

[Lisa]

Marty really deserves this. What great leaders we have on this team. The hard work and the constant effort that Marty always brings to the ice is unequaled.

I think that leaving Taylor as the Captain is to show him respect, and also, in my opinion, to take time to see which of the three A's steps up and should be the next captain.

[Another Joe]

I know im a biased Bolts fan but i think we are in for a great year!

[Philip]

Congrats to St. Louis... MUCH deserved... and one of the reasons I am loving this sport!

Since I am relative newbie to hockey and still learning (3 years)... please tell me why it makes sense to keep Taylor as Captain when the TBL trainer says that he knows of no other professional returning after this surgery...he won't be in the lineup until at least February... his TOI last year was 7:54. Can someone enlighten this newbie to me why he is our, or should remain our captain? On the surface it would appear he is a figurehead captain?

[keith]

Well deserved. Hard to believe Marty could bring anymore to each game than he already does.Give him the C. Tayls was a dud as skipper. Marty is respected not only in Lightning land but around the league too.

[Manny]

Marty St. Louis would be my choice for captain over Vinny and Brad. He's articulate, speaks well during interviews, and from what I hear; he speaks his mind in the locker room.

[Nan]

Marty is a great choice for the A. As far as captain goes, Torts has a history of taking his time picking a C and when he does, he is an older person and has been an A first. So in this case now, our next C may be in fact Marty.

This is not the first time they have been without a C on the ice and they have done fine. I think it is great that they are giving Taylor that honor by leaving him captain for this season.

[F.T.B.S.]

Rather give him the Captaincy---without hestiation. Ever since returning from a broken leg and leading us in the '03 Playoff against the Caps, we knew he is the heart and soul of the club.

Lighning Flash, grit, grind, finding the extra effort, Marty is the total package.

Every club compares their 'C' to the Great Yzerman and draws bellylaughs. Let the nabobs in Detroit, Toronto, et. al, wrap their brain around MSL as Captain of the Lightning and the mirth would cease.

St. Louis certainly means more to us than Jokinen means to the stinking Swamp Cats. Subtract both and what happens? The Panthers still stink, but we, with our other high dollar paper dolls would spiral down to the Panthers' level overnight.
No soul. No grit. No guile. Marginal effort.

Make no mistake, Marty is the turbo-cam powering our engine. Without him we're just another Chevy coasting to the side of the road.

Paint 'turbo' on our fender.

Go Bolts!

[Stacey]

Holy cow! Congratulations, Oh-Mighty-One! Seriously now, what a good lookin' line-up of Alts. Marty will be an awesome motivator for the whole team. GO BOLTS!

[Debbie]

I agree completely with Lightning rod.

[Lightning rod]

Not once watching Marty play did I ever feel that he wasn't giving it everything he had. Not once. He deserves the money that he gets, and deserves this recognition. A for effort sounds good to me. Some might say that he deserves the C, but I think the current situation makes this the right move.