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Martin St. Louis (True) Rookie Cards
Martin St. Louis attended the University of Vermont Catamounts, where he made an immediate impact. By his Junior year, he led his team and his school to their first East Coast Athletic Conference Championship. Martin St. Louis has five true rookie cards and seven parallels.
A Rough Start for St. Louis
Oddly, Martin St. Louis entered the NHL but was un-drafted.
So how can a hockey player with such a dominating college-playing resume go un-drafted? Martin St. Louis stood at 5′ 8″ tall and because of that, some feel he went un-drafted in 1997.
He then settled for a spot on the Cleveland Lumberjacks in the International Hockey League and when he scored 50 points in 56 games it caught the attention of the NHL Calgary Flames in 1998.
He earned a spot on the team and debuted in October 1998 but had limited playing time, and was sent back to the IHL after 13 games.
In 2000 under new management, the Flames let go of St. Louis to free agency.
St. Louis – a Self Motivator
There were few teams that seemed interested in signing him so he chose to play for the Tampa Bay Lightning because that’s where he thought he would get the most playing time.
At first, he struggled but later that season he changed up how he was approaching the game. There was a new focus, dedication, and perseverance about him that made him at times stubborn.
All he’s heard was, “No Marti, you have to do it this way. No! Marti, you have to do it that way!” He was told he’s too short, he’s not good enough and his career had come to a crossroads.
Martin St. Louis decided to do things his way and he found motivation in proving people wrong. That’s not all he found, he also found success!
He pressed in and his perseverance paid off by 2004 when he helped Tampa Bay Lightning win their first Stanley Cup title!
It was a seventh game win against who else, the Calgary Flames, the team that gave him up to free agency not but four years prior. That same year Marti also won the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award.
The apex of his career came in 2006 St. Louis had his greatest year yet scoring a career-high 43 goals and 102 points!
Marti says, “One of the hardest things in life is to maintain a level of excellence. Getting there is one battle but staying there is even harder. But with hard work and passion at some point dreams turn into reality.”
Career Stats & Accomplishments
Summary: Games Played 1,134 | Goals 391 | Assist 642 | Points 1,033.
- 6x All-Star
- 2x Art Ross Trophy
- 3x Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
- 2003-04 Hart Memorial Trophy
- 2003-04 Ted Lindsey Award
- 2004 Stanley Cup Champion
- 2018 Hall of Fame Induction
Martin played for 16 seasons, 2 years with the Calgary Flames, 13 years with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and 2 years with the NY Rangers.
1998 Crown Royale, #20 (RC)
We’re not talking about Canadian Whiskey, I’m talking about this beautiful die-cut rookie card of Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis. The die cut, crown-shaped card front has gold foil accents, and bold silver foil lettering across the bottom.
The card back lacks player bio and stats but it sure has plenty of eye appeal. Definitely my favorite Martin St. Louis rookie card. Pacific is a 144 card set released as a single series.
There is one parallel, Limited Series serial-numbered to /99.
1998 Pacific Dynagon Ice, #28 (RC)
I’m not sure what a Dynagon is as I can’t find a dictionary definition for it but what I do know is that this is another Martin St. Louis rookie card.
The card front gives us an action photo and lots of colors but I’m not quite sure what’s going on here. To me, the overall theme is watered down a bit. Maybe that’s it, Ice and Calgary Flames give us blue melted water?! I don’t know.
Dynagon Ice is a 200 card set released in a single series and there are two parallels. Blue, serial-numbered to /67, and Red which features red foil and was only found in Treat retail packs.
1998 Pacific Omega, #38 (RC)
Pacific’s more affordable brand Omega has two serious flaws in my opinion. The card is really dark and it features another rookie, Rico Fata. I’m not much of a fan of these dual rookie cards.
Now if Rico was a Hall of Famer too it might be something cool but this is not the case for most of these. Card backs don’t give us much probably because there’s not much room.
Omega was released as a single series and offers 250 cards in the set. There are two parallels, Red found in Treat retail packs, and Opening Day Issue serial-numbered to /56.
1998 Upper Deck, #234 (RC)
This is a 420 card set split up into two series. Marti can be found in series two packs. Due to Upper Deck’s dominance of hockey cards, this would be Martin St. Louis most popular rookie card among collectors.
What I really like about this one is, it’s a full-action, game day photo, with silver foil sides framed out in black and red borders. Overall a great card!
The set offers two parallels, Exclusives serial-numbered to /100, and Exclusives 1 of 1.
1998 UD Gold Reserve, #234 (RC)
The Gold Reserve was distributed to retail stores and is an exact carbon copy of the Upper Deck release with the exception of the gold foil sides instead of silver. There are no parallels in this set.
Happy Collecting Collectors,
Learn. Collect. Enjoy.
Sources:
Martin St. Louis Stats | Hockey-Reference.com https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/s/stlouma01.html (accessed July 8, 2018).
Hall, Phil. Digital Image. “Ex-NHL star Martin St. Louis launches Seven7 private investment firm.” Westfair Communications. August 24, 2017. https://westfaironline.com/92994/ex-nhl-star-martin-st-louis-launches-seven7-private-investment-firm/ (accessed July 7, 2018).
