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DAMIAN CRISTODEROMartin St. Louis brushes off the many accolades to focus on the Lightning's success.
TAMPA - Martin St. Louis better get used to it.
Whether the Lightning wing likes it or not, there will be as much talk about what he has done and might do this season as the goals and achievements of his team.
Sorry, Marty, when you are a candidate for the Hart Trophy, given to the league's most valuable player, and the Selke, given to its best defensive forward, it comes with the territory.
Even St. Louis' teammates are into it as they encourage him to chase down Detroit's Robert Lang in the scoring race.
"They have brought it up, but I really don't like to talk about it because there's more to it than that," St. Louis said. "What does it mean, really? It means I've had some success. But I think our record right now means a lot more than my individual success.
"It's been a lot of fun this year. We've been winning, and everybody is having a good time. That's what it's all about. It's not about how many points Marty is going to get."
But how can it not be, at least a little bit, beginning tonight when Tampa Bay faces the Capitals at the St. Pete Times Forum?
St. Louis' career-high 74 points on 30 goals and 44 assists are tied for the league lead with Lang, who has 29 goals and 45 assists.
"I tell them not to worry about it or talk about it," St. Louis said. "I really don't like it. I want to just keep going and not worry about it."
"I'm sure that's not his main focus," center and linemate Vinny Lecavalier said. "His main focus is for the team to win. But I'm sure it's a goal for him, and the more he produces, the more the team wins."
There is no denying that formula. St. Louis, 28, isn't the only reason for the Lightning's remarkable 19-3-1-4 run that made it a breakaway leader in the Southeast and a challenger for the top spot in the conference. But he is a catalyst.
The Laval, Quebec, native, leads with 19 goals and 26 assists in that 27-game stretch during which he was voted an All-Star starter and became a candidate for Canada's World Cup team.
He leads the league with seven short-handed goals and nine short-handed points and at plus-28 is behind only Ottawa's Zdeno Chara (plus-32).
Imagine where St. Louis would be if not for a 19-game stretch from Nov. 6 to Dec. 16 in which he had just two goals and nine assists.
Through it all, St. Louis has kept his focus, not to mention his head. Determined but humble, driven but introspective, St. Louis would rather talk about the tape used to keep his socks in place during games than the avalanche of recognition he has received.
"It's just the way he is," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "It's just the way he's gone about it and the way he is as a guy. He knows it can go the other way pretty quick if he doesn't stay attentive to how he handles himself on and off the ice."
But the other stuff keeps creeping in.
During TSN's Tuesday telecast in Canada of the game between the Canadiens and Senators, St. Louis received a winning 27 percent of the votes cast in a viewer poll that asked who should be named MVP. Vancouver's Markus Naslund was second with 26 percent, ahead of Florida's Robert Luongo (15) and Calgary's Jarome Iginla (12).
Asked if the 5-foot-9, 185-pound St. Louis should be named MVP, Lecavalier said, "I think so. He's proven himself. Since December, he's really brought up the level and intensity of his game. He's fast. He's a small guy, but he's definitely not afraid to go into the corners. He's really aggressive. Teams are afraid of him."
"Of course I read it. How can you not read it? It's in the paper," St. Louis said of his accolades. "It's flattering. But at the same time, there are a lot of good players in this league that deserve the same attention. I'm just playing to help my team win. The rest will come then. I'm not going to change the way I play or how I approach the game."
A lot easier when you are playing well and your team is winning. It also makes it easier to leave the game at the rink. That is important for St. Louis as he and wife Heather raise their first child, 8-month-old Ryan.
Heather said her husband always had a good sense of what is important.
"I remember a few games ago when he had the 30-goal mark and 71 points, I said, "Wow, you've got more (points) than you did last year,"' Heather said. "He said, "Yeah, but we won.' It's always more about the team.
"That's the way he is. That's the way he always will be. It's always about it being a team sport and not an individual. He just believes his numbers will come when the team is doing well."
Funny how it works the other way as well.