Advertisement

Will Marty St. Louis be booed tonight?

Marty St. Louis celebrates  his goal - point No. 998 -this week. (Seth Wenig, AP)

Marty St. Louis celebrates his goal – point No. 998 -this week. (Seth Wenig, AP)

Usually when a player comes back to town, you can predict what the reaction will be.

Ryan Kesler, you knew he’d be booed in Vancouver because he asked out of town.

New York Rangers forward Marty St. Louis tonight in Tampa Bay? Hard to say.

He was such an icon in Tampa. He helped the Lightning win the 2004 Stanley Cup. He won two scoring titles. He helped Steven Stamkos in the early years of his development. He scored 953 of his 998 points with the team.

But he did ask out of town. The request wasn’t a reflection on the team or the city. He wasn’t happy that GM Steve Yzerman overlooked him originally for the Canadian Olympic team. And he wanted to be closer to his wife’s Connecticut home.

Yzerman accommodated the trade and got back Ryan Callahan and two first-round picks. St. Louis took the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Final. The Lightning without him (and injured goalie Ben Bishop)? Knocked out in the first round.

St. Louis’ thoughts on tonight’s fan reaction: “I’m expecting the worst and hoping for the best,” he told reporters.

Our hopes for tonight: Treat him with respect when he’s first announced. Treat him like an opponent afterward because he is, after all, trying to beat your team.

And if he hits the 1,000-point milestone, give him a round of applause.

Your games tonight

Winnipeg at Buffalo, 7

Washington at N.Y. Islanders, 7

Philadelphia at Detroit, 7:30

N.Y. Rangers at Tampa Bay, 7:30

Carolina at Florida, 7:30

Toronto at Pittsburgh, 7:30

Los Angeles at Minnesota, 8

Chicago at Colorado, 9

Calgary at San Jose, 10:30

Follow the rest of USA TODAY Sports’ in-depth NHL coverage at nhl.usatoday.com.

More NHL