The joy of Martin St Louis

A post from BP’s newest contributor, Pinot Noir. As you’ll see, Pinot is a veteran gamesman and sports observer. Take it away, Pinot:

Sharing the joy of Martin St. Louis

As I write this, Martin St. Louis is the NHL playoff scoring leader, remarkable for an aging veteran on a team that few thought would advance far this spring. Let me share a moment I had with him last fall, albeit from the stands while watching him play.

Tuesday night games in November are never “must win” events in the National Hockey League, and with an 82-game schedule, intensity is bound to wane. But that didn’t stop me from taking a road trip to Florida see the Toronto Maple Leafs (my team) take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at the St. Pete Times Forum.

While I certainly witnessed the expected periods of waning intensity that evening, I didn’t anticipate that “the wane” would be so lopsided, with the Leafs totally dominated in a 4-0 loss.

One of the reasons for the lopsided game was the speed and intensity of one of the Tampa Bay players – Martin St. Louis. At 35 years old and just 5 feet 8 inches tall, this 13-year vet was both the shortest and the fastest player on either team and skated all night like it was Game 7 of a cup final.

To be honest, I’d forgotten that St. Louis was still on the team (hadn’t he retired?), and with all the talk about young Steve Stamkos, I was more interested in seeing an emerging superstar than an aging veteran. But it was St. Louis who stood out.

In a soft hockey market like Tampa Bay, getting prime seats was easy and we sat six rows up – with a great view of the plays whizzing by. My one memory from that night was this: Tampa Bay was on a rush in the 1^st period, one of their players carrying the puck into the Maple Leaf zone. St. Louis jumped into the play so quickly that both of his short powerful legs were airborne at once as he raced into the zone.

He looked like a kid sprinting to join his friends in a game of tag – limbs moving a mile a minute, skates not quite touching the ice surface. The Lightning didn’t score on the play, but I’ll never forget St. Louis’ abandon, including his feverish chase the other way when the Leafs recaptured possession and moved the puck out of their end.

What was it? Passion? Intensity? Probably both, but the emotive description that sticks with me is joy. And how often do you see that in a 700-game veteran playing a relatively meaningless Tuesday night game in a tropical hockey wasteland 2,300 kilometers from his hometown in hockey-mad Quebec?

After seeing St. Louis up close that night, I’d swear it was the joy that fuelled his remarkable 99-point regular season – his second highest point total ever and second highest in the league this year – and his current ascension to the top of the playoff scoring leader board.

There aren’t many comparables. Maybe Michael Jordan winning the scoring title in basketball at that age, or averaging 20 points per game at age 40? Or Jimmy Connors reaching the semi-finals of U.S. Open tennis at age 39? I’m sure there are a few other examples. But only a few.

Remarkable. Joy and excellence at such a late career stage. Something rare – and something only the best players in the world can share.