Our tax dollars at work, folks:

Seems that Lightning right wing Marty St. Louis' 1-year-old son, Mason, was deemed an enemy of the state or something, and was not allowed to get on a plane from New York to Montreal as his dad tried to get to his hometown for the All-Star Game. The TSA, St. Louis said, would not let Mason on the flight because Mason (did I mention he is 1 year old) did not have a passport. He had his birth certificate but, oh my gosh, not a passport.

This is all happening at 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning. St. Louis had to be in Montreal for that night's SuperSkills competition. So what did he do? St. Louis said he was told driving across the border would be fine, so he, wife Heather, and kids Ryan, 5; Lucas, 3; and Mason, booked a new flight from New York to Burlington, Vt., where the family met St. Louis' dad, Normand, who had driven to Burlington from Montreal. Normand picked up the family and drove them the hour, 45 minutes back. St. Louis said they reached Montreal at 1 p.m., in plenty of time for that night's fun.

Same thing coming back. St. Louis and family had to drive from Montreal to Burlington, from where he took a flight to Orlando to pick up his truck. Why was his truck there? Because his mom and dad, who had been in Tampa, flew to Montreal from Orlando and left the truck for St. Louis to pick up on the way home. St. Louis said he reached Tampa at 2:45, 15 minutes before Tampa Bay's practice from, which he was excused.

The worst part of it all is St. Louis said he has made the flight before with Mason, though from a different airport closer to his Connecticut home, and never had a problem.

Regardless of the inconvenience, St. Louis said the weekend, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Canadiens franchise, was one of the highlights of his career.

"The be part of such a historical time for this franchise that you grew up watching, to be there for the All-Star Game, it was pretty cool," St. Louis said.

Of scoring two goals, he added, "It made the weekend, for sure."