Martin St. Louis Becomes First Lightning Player to Have Jersey # Retired

"There's one sound that gets me fired up. The voice of every person, who said I was too small to make it." - Martin St. Louis

Martin St. Louis. A fine player on the ice, an even finer person off. The story of a person who made it to the top league in hockey against all odds, playing in a league for big people when he was small, and excelling at a level that most players don't. 

He is the record holder on the Lightning with most assists- 588- and with most points- 953, and he scored the game-winning goal against the Calgary Flames in the 2004 Stanley Cup Final, allowing the Lightning to win the Cup in the next game. 

Not only that, but his passion for hockey exceeded everything else. In the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs, St. Louis got the news that his mother had died suddenly. She was his biggest fan, and his heart and soul. St. Louis, who had gotten traded to the New York Rangers by then, resolved to win the Stanley Cup for his mother, taking the Rangers to the Final that year.

A story such as St. Louis's shows that with enough passion and hard work, the impossible becomes possible. He is an inspiration to all, and a classy player on and off the ice.