Just how cool the Tampa Bay Lightning crowd is to No. 26 in his first game after forcing a trade to the New York Rangers last season certainly remains to be seen Wednesday night.

"I'm not sure, I'm expecting the worst. I'm OK with it, I understand the pain, I guess, that I gave the fans," St. Louis, 39, said on the phone from his Tampa hotel room. "It was so sudden, I think that sometimes it hurts more when it happens quick. I get how they would see it. But I think with time, and how everything has gone for both sides, hopefully some of those wounds have healed and they appreciate the years that I had there, not so much the time that I haven't been there. We'll see how it unfolds.''

The Lightning are planning to recognize St. Louis' return with a video during the first period, consistent with what they've done for other former players.

But this was no run-of-the-mill trade. This was the longtime pulse of the franchise forcing his way out.

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