TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Martin St. Louis’ story is almost too good to be true.

Once considered too small to play – let alone excel – in the NHL, the undrafted Tampa Bay Lightning star is making a career of turning skeptics into believers.

Cast aside by the Calgary Flames four years ago, the 5-foot-9, 185-pound St. Louis not only landed on his feet with the Lightning but will lead his new team into the Stanley Cup finals Tuesday night against – who else? – his former club.

Still, the two-time All-Star insists the series won’t be personal for him.

He remains grateful that the Flames gave him his first opportunity to play in the NHL, and says the things he learned playing on Calgary’s fourth line have helped him become the player he is today.

“Things happen for a reason,” St. Louis said Monday.

“I’m treating this series the same way it would be regardless of if it’s Calgary or if it would be San Jose or whatnot. … There’s no hard feelings. I am not mad. I don’t feel I have to put it in their face.”

St. Louis was cut loose in Calgary after appearing in just four games in two seasons, a casualty he said of changes in the front office and coaching staff rather than the way he performed on the ice.

He rejects the notion that the Flames gave up on him.

“I truly think it worked out for me in Calgary, to be honest. I wasn’t drafted. I had nothing. Here’s a team that gave me an opportunity to reach my dream and I relished that,” St. Louis said.

“When people get fired, sometimes different people come in and go in different directions. I didn’t take that as a negative time.”

This season, St. Louis became smallest player to win the league scoring title since Chicago’s Stan Mikita – at 5-9, 169 pounds – won the Art Ross Trophy in 1968, finishing with 38 goals and 56 assists for a career-high 94 points.

The finalist for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP added 18 points – five goals, 13 assists – in helping the Lightning to playoff series wins over the New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers.

It turns out, Tampa Bay’s speedy system was a perfect fit for the former University of Vermont standout, even if it didn’t seem like it right away.

Unhappy with a fourth-line role on a last-place team, St. Louis pleaded for more playing time and eventually got it.

“I thought if I couldn’t play for the Lightning, who can I play for,” St. Louis recalled. “I had to earn it. They give it to me.”

Calgary star Jarome Iginla, like St. Louis a finalist for the Hart Trophy, said he always felt his former teammate had the potential to be an impact player.

“The people who played with him in the minors couldn’t stop talking about how good he was, about his skill and about his competitiveness. When he came with us, you could see it in practice,” Iginla said.

“He played well for us. I don’t know if you know he’s going to go on to win the scoring title … but you could see he was going to be a good player, and he’s developed into a great player.”

The Flames have already seen that up close.

In the only regular season meeting between Tampa Bay and Calgary, St. Louis had three goals and an assist in a 6-2 win.

AP-ES-05-24-04 1954EDT