Rangers Coach May Meet Martin St. Louis in New York City

Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning might replace a former New York Ranger in New York City next year.

St. Louis is in the news for three things these days:

1. He is leading Team Canada at the World Championships.

2. He is in the running for the Lady Byng Trophy, the NHL's prestigious award for sportsmanship.

3. The Rangers are looking for a proven scorer and New York's coach, John Tortorella, believes he will fill the bill. (Tortorella coached him in Florida.)

Rumors about St. Louis came up at the trade deadline this year, but nothing came of them. The Rangers' interest in him has grown since Tortorella joined the team.

It has been apparent all season long, especially in the first round of the playoffs, that the Rangers needed a proven scorer. They picked up Nik Antropov, but they still miss Jaromir Jagra and Straka.

At the IIHF world hockey championship, St. Louis leads all scorers with 12 points after five games. He scored a hat-trick in Canada's game against Hungary.

He is competing for the Lady Byng Trophy with Zach Parise of the New Jersey Devils and Pavel Datsyuk of Detroit.

St. Louis is seen as a 30 goal plus scorer. He has two years left on his contract with Tampa Bay. With the unexpected retirement of Markus Naslund, the Rangers might have room for St. Louis.

In five games, with five fairly easy wins, the Canadians have outscored their opponents 32-6 and have yet to trail at any point of the tournament.  In the 2006–07 NHL season, St. Louis recorded a personal high of 102 points (43 goals, 59 assists).

St. Louis played for the University of Vermont Catamounts where he was an NCAA all-star and three-time Hobey Baker Award finalist for college player of the year. St. Louis became the first player since Wayne Gretzky and only the eighth in NHL history to win the Art Ross Trophy, the Stanley Cup, and the Hart Memorial Trophy all in one season.