from Dan Rosen of NHL.com,

In many ways the Tampa Bay Lightning and Martin St. Louis needed each other when they started what now should be called their forever relationship before the 2000-01 season.

Each wanted to build something. The Lightning wanted a winning tradition, and St. Louis, a 5-foot-9 forward, wanted a successful NHL career. Each was an underdog, the Lightning as a Sun Belt expansion franchise with one Stanley Cup Playoff berth in its first eight seasons, and St. Louis an undersized, undrafted forward pegged as a fourth-liner. That is, if he was going to have an NHL career at all.

More than 16 years later, St. Louis is coming home because the team that gave him a chance, the one he helped build and put on the NHL map, is ready to give him an honor only one person can receive.

At Amalie Arena on Friday, St. Louis' No. 26 will be the first retired by the Lightning....

"It's an honor," St. Louis said. "Just getting your jersey retired is quite the honor, and obviously to be the first one I think makes it even more special."

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Below, watch the top 10 Martin St. Louis goals...