MONTREAL — The Rangers won Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals 7-2 on Saturday. That’s a reason to be happy. But the Rangers had little room for joy on Sunday after the team attended the funeral for the mother of winger Martin St. Louis in LaVal, a city just outside Montreal.
St. Louis took the podum during the ceremony and shared some memories of his mother in front of freinds, family and his teammates.
“After hearing him speak, I don’t know how he did it,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “He’s a much better man than I am to be able to do something like that. I think what he’s doing and his family – his sister, father, aunts, uncles, everyone that’s close to him – is moving on through our team. The fact that we’re still playing is enabling them to cope and handle this challenging situation.”
St. Louis has only been with the Rangers since March, when the team acquired him in a trade from the Lightning. After St. Louis’ mom, France, died on May 8, St. Louis has leaned on his teammates to help deal with his loss. And he has continuted to play, tallying his fourth goal of the playoffs in Game 1.
It made Marty get to know the guys and the group and the organization a lot quicker than he would have if that didn’t happen when you’re coming to a new team,” center Brad Richards said. “So he felt like the organization was there to support him. We felt how passionate he was for the group and the organization.”
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