Bolts' St. Louis is on mend after scary eye injury

As blood rapidly rushed into his left eye, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Marty St. Louis knew that this time was different.

Throughout his years of playing hockey, St. Louis has experienced plenty of close calls involving sticks, skates and pucks around his eye. There are plenty of scars that serve as reminders.

But Thursday morning, when an errant Dominic Moore backhand shot during a pregame skate at Madison Square Garden struck St. Louis in the left eye, it was a shock to his system.

"When that one hit me, I knew I was in trouble because I couldn't see out of my left eye, and panic set in a little bit," St. Louis said. "I was very overwhelmed with the possibilities of what just happened."

Four days after the incident, the 35-year-old stood at the Forum's locker room doors, a bandage across his the bridge of his nose with a pair of regular glasses covering his yellow and purple colored eyes, bumping fists with his teammates as they made their way to the ice. That St. Louis could stand there and watch his teammates pass by makes him somewhat fortunate, considering the alternative.

"I was scared, I was scared, like I felt — and I don't know if it was anxiety or everything, I just felt very, very sick before I got to the hospital," he said. "You have a lot going through your mind."

It wasn't until later Thursday night that St. Louis knew things could have been worse.

"That night, at that point I knew that I had vision in the eye," he said. "I didn't know what kind of vision I had, but I could see light and movement, so I knew that it wasn't as bad as I thought it was."

With this being the closest call of any he has experienced, St. Louis expects that once he comes back — and there remains no timetable — he will put a visor on his helmet, which might have prevented Thursday's incident.

"It's easy to look back and there are plenty of things in your life you want back, do things a certain way. We all do (but) you learn and sometimes you need something like that to make you lean a certain way," he said.

After spending Thursday night at NYU Medical Center, St. Louis and his wife, Heather, spent Friday at the couple's home in Connecticut before driving to Philadelphia on Saturday and flying home on the team's private charter. One of the first people St. Louis sought out was Moore.

"Anybody would feel terrible," St. Louis said of Moore. "There was nothing he could do. It's not just him missing the net, it's me being there, too. It's not all his fault, but of course the guy who shoots the puck usually feels the blame a lot more than the guy who takes it."

St. Louis is not allowed to do any physical activity until the blood subsides from his eye, which makes playing hockey with his kids impossible, let alone getting back on the ice with his teammates.

And until the blood dissipates, there will be no timetable established for his return, although head coach Guy Boucher said Monday morning that he is not expecting St. Louis until after Christmas, at the earliest.