When the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2004, John Tortorella's men did not have the expected start to the season. However, the situation changed following a discussion between Martin St-Louis and John Tortorella, who was the team's head coach at the time.
Following a team meeting, the former Lightning number 26 followed his coach into an Ottawa hotel and questioned his decisions:
"You want us to be able to be game-breakers so give us game-breaking minutes." - Martin St-Louis to John Tortorella
Following this discussion, John Tortorella gave St-Louis his chance and the Lightning had a great second half of the season to finally win the Stanley Cup. The small forward scored the winning goal in the second overtime period of Game 6 of the Finals against the Flames. That goal is still the most important goal in the history of the franchise.
He challenged me. He asked me to give him a chance and we never looked back after that. He wanted to prove to everyone that he was the man for the job." - John Tortorella
-
In your opinion, will Martin St-Louis be able to bring a Stanley Cup to Montreal as head coach?
Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Two of the four final names for Utah's NHL team revealed by owner