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Martin St. Louis: The ultimate complementary player

Tampa Bay Lightning v Winnipeg Jets

WINNIPEG, MB - FEBRUARY 23: Martin St Louis #26 of the Tampa Bay Lightning shoots the puck during their NHL game against the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre on February 23, 2012 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

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When you look at the career of Martin St. Louis, one thing stands out amongst everything else: Consistency.

Since 2002-03 he’s had 70+ points in each season except for one (05-06). During Tampa’s Stanley Cup title season in 2004, he led the NHL in points with 95 and won the Hart Trophy as the league MVP. He was a finalist for MVP in 2011 after putting up 99 points and leading the Lightning to the Eastern Conference finals.

With all those individual accolades and statistics, he’s been the guy that’s helped both Vinny Lecavalier and Steve Stamkos reach stardom.

In 2006-07 when Lecavalier had a career-high 52 goals and 108 points, it was St. Louis there riding shotgun with him with 102 points of his own. While Stamkos was busy scoring 60 goals last season, again it was St. Louis along for the ride with 74 points many of which came in helping Stamkos reach a milestone number. That ability to complement another’s play so well is rare.

The Lightning’s success over the years has always been seemingly on and off, but it’s been St. Louis that’s been the rock. Not bad for a guy who went undrafted out of the University of Vermont and whom the Calgary Flames gave up on after two seasons.