LOS ANGELES — Martin St. Louis’ inspirational tale that had largely been a local one throughout the second and third rounds of the playoffs became an international one Tuesday at the Stanley Cup finals media day.
St. Louis spoke in touching and eloquent terms about his mother, France, who suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 63 on May 8, the day between the fourth and fifth games of the conference semifinal series against Pittsburgh.
“My mom … since she passed you start to think a little bit about how she shaped you,” St. Louis said. “I know a lot of my work ethic I believe I got from my dad, but the more I think about it this past month or so, my mom’s determination … as a kid, she would always tell me, in French obviously, but she would always tell me to chase my dream.
“She was very intense when she would tell me those things,” said St. Louis, who will go for his second Cup ring 10 years after getting the first one with Tampa Bay when the Rangers meet the Kings beginning with Wednesday’s Game 1. “This is a 4-foot-11 lady that would just look at me straight in my eyes and she would tell me to chase my dreams and, ‘Show them. Show them.’
“So the more I think about it, the more I feel I got the determination from my mom and the ‘not taking no for an answer’ and keep-pushing kind of thing from my mom.”
St. Louis flew home from Pittsburgh to be with his family in Montreal upon learning the tragic news. His return to the club for the next day’s Game 5 marked the beginning of the inspirational narrative he and his teammates have spun since.
“She was a great lady and probably the best human being I’ll ever know,” St. Louis said. “She was so selfless. … Everybody that met my mom, whether it was the first time they came through the door, they felt like part of the family right away.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s been with us all the way.”
The winger is tied with Carl Hagelin for the club lead in playoff goals with six, and tied with Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh for the club lead in points with 13.
“Marty is a very special person,” Garden owner Jim Dolan told The Post on Tuesday. “When you look at what he has gone through, and how he has carried himself and performed, it is incredible.
“At the service for his mom, he told how his mother would say, ‘Show them … show them how good you are.’ You can feel that he is still thinking that,” said Dolan. “It’s like he has his mother’s voice in his ear. ‘Show them.’
“And that’s what he’s been able to do.”
— Additional reporting by Tim Bontemps