Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis tallied a total of 385 points during their two marquee seasons together in 2006-07 and 2007-08. Along with former Lightning forward Vaclav Prospal, they anchored the Bolts most famed line – the M.V.P. line (Marty, Vinny, Prospal) – and electrified the offense.
It was no surprise that, during the struggles of the Lightning in general the past two seasons under the guidance of Barry Melrose and Rick Tocchet, fans were often flummoxed or outright pissed off that the combination of Lecavalier and St. Louis did not see more ice time together. Last season, especially, with Lecavalier struggling to score goals and St. Louis seemingly pushed into a support role, you had to wonder just why the pair were being kept apart?
Damian Cristordero asked the new man in charge, head coach Guy Boucher, what’s going to happen with Marty and Vinny this season:
“To me, that tandem, Lecavalier and St. Louis, is extremely, extremely strong in possibilities on ice and off,” Boucher said. “They might not start together, but they will play together at some point, whether it’s power play or five-on-five.”
This is no guarantee that we’ll see the two together. It’s also not much of a different situation (if taken in directly, it’s not a promise) as what Rick Tocchet did as head coach last season – Vinny and Marty would (though seldom) see ice time together, certainly on the power play if not at even strength.
With team depth and scoring depth seemingly less of an issue this season, the reunion of Lecavalier and St. Louis on a nightly basis is in the realm of possibilities. We’ll have to wait until the end of camp to get a more definite idea what is in store for the dynamic duo.
