To get inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame is the biggest thing that can happen to you if you play hockey. It is also significant to receive a message from Mario Lemieux congratulating you for it.
All things mentioned above happened to Martin St. Louis, but it didn’t turn out how he planned.
Martin St. Louis had an amazing career, playing 1,134 games and scoring 391 goals and 1,033 points. His career began with the Calgary Flames, but he’s mostly remembered for his time with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he played from 2000 to 2014.
St. Louis won the Stanley Cup in 2004, played in six All-Star Games, and won the Lester B. Pearson Award, the Hart Memorial, and the Art Ross Trophy in 2003-04. In 2013, he became the oldest player to ever lead the NHL in scoring by winning his second Art Ross.
St. Louis was a great leader and a gentleman as well, and his three Lady Byng Memorial Trophies prove it. Martin St. Louis was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018; his first year of eligibility. It was a huge moment for St. Louis, his family, and everyone around him.
And as his induction was announced, some of hockey’s all-time greats reached out to him for congratulations. But when Mario Lemieux texted him, Martin St. Louis had a tough time understanding what really happened.
”Well, I got a nice text from a man named Mario. And I was like, ’Mario? Who’s Mario?’ St. Louis said, laughing, on NHL Now.
”I mean, I know a few Marios. But the kind of stuff he was saying … I played with Mario Lemieux in the World Cup, but I didn’t have him on my phone. His jersey number gave it away a little bit, let’s just say that.
”I put two and two together, but it was so nice to hear from him. Mario played his junior hockey in my town, and I was like 7-8 years old, and my dad used to watch him play all the time. He came home and talked about this guy who was going to go first overall.”
For St. Louis, the biggest part of getting inducted into the HHoF was to be in the same group of guys like Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky.
”I’m very happy with the things that I did as a player, how it turned out. But what really hits me the most is the guys that are in the Hall of Fame now. And I get to be there with them. I’m talking about Maurice Richard, Guy Lafleur, and Gordie Howe—some of my dad’s idols. I remember my dad talking to me about them when I was young. The fact that I’m in there with them, to me, that’s what hits me more than the fact I’m going there. It’s who’s in there, and what club I’m part of.”
