Martin St. Louis
June 18, 1975 — Laval, Québec, Canada
Martin St. Louis is a former NHL right wing and current head coach — the ultimate "undersized player who made good" story in hockey, having gone undrafted due to concerns about his 5'8" frame and then going on to win the Hart Trophy, the Art Ross Trophy, the Stanley Cup, and be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Undrafted and Determined
Born on June 18, 1975, in Laval, Québec, St. Louis excelled as a hockey player from childhood but was repeatedly passed over by NHL scouts who considered him too small to succeed in professional hockey. He starred at the University of Vermont for four seasons, was a two-time Hockey East Player of the Year, and despite those accolades, went completely undrafted in the NHL Entry Draft. He signed with the Calgary Flames as an undrafted free agent in 1998, but was released before ever playing a regular-season game. He then played in the International Hockey League before finally catching on with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2000 — the beginning of a career that would embarrass every scout who had passed on him.
Hart Trophy, Art Ross, and the Stanley Cup
In the 2003–04 NHL season, St. Louis achieved something no one had predicted: he won both the Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) and the Art Ross Trophy (leading scorer) in the same season, recording 94 points. His 5'8" frame was never a liability for him — his low center of gravity, exceptional skating ability, and hockey sense more than compensated for his lack of size. That spring, the Tampa Bay Lightning won their first Stanley Cup championship, with St. Louis as a key contributor. He represented Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi — a remarkable late-career international milestone — and scored a key overtime goal against Latvia.
Did You Know?
Martin St. Louis scored a goal at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics just hours after being told his mother had died. In an extraordinary act of personal strength, he chose to play in Canada's quarterfinal game, saying his mother would have wanted him to compete. He then scored in the game. The moment — captured in photographs and described in detail by his teammates — became one of the most emotionally powerful stories of those Olympics and a testament to his character.
Coaching Career and Hall of Fame
After his playing career ended in 2015 (he retired as a New York Ranger), St. Louis was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2022, he became head coach of the Montréal Canadiens — taking on the challenge of rebuilding a storied franchise with the same underdog energy he had as a player. His coaching career has drawn significant interest and respect from the hockey world. He is widely cited as one of the greatest undrafted players in NHL history, alongside other legends who were overlooked before proving their doubters wrong — a career arc that has made him particularly beloved by fans who root for the overlooked and persistent.