Rick Martin

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CanadaCanada  Rick Martin Ice hockey player
Date of birth July 26, 1951
place of birth Verdun , Quebec , Canada
date of death March 13, 2011
Place of death Clarence , New York , USA
size 180 cm
Weight 81 kg
position Left wing
Shot hand Left
Draft
NHL Amateur Draft 1971 , 1st round, 5th position
Buffalo Sabers
Career stations
1967-1968 Thetford Mines Canadiens
1968-1971 Montréal Junior Canadiens
1971-1981 Buffalo Sabers
1981-1982 Los Angeles Kings

Richard Lionel Martin (born July 26, 1951 in Verdun , Québec , † March 13, 2011 in Clarence , New York , USA ) was a Canadian ice hockey player who played for the Buffalo Sabers and Los Angeles Kings in the National Hockey League from 1971 to 1982 played. He gained notoriety because, with Gilbert Perreault and René Robert, he formed one of the most impressive offensive series of the Sabers in their history - The French Connection .

Martin completed a total of 685 NHL games during the regular season, in which he scored 384 goals and contributed 317 assists for a total of 701 points scorer. His most successful season was the season 1974/75 , in which he scored 52 goals in 68 games and gave another 43 assists. During his NHL career, he scored more than 44 goals in five seasons, which underscores his scoring risk.

On March 13, 2011, Martin suffered a heart attack while driving in a suburb of Buffalo and died at the scene of the accident. After his death, neuropathological examinations of his brain revealed that he was suffering from the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is caused by repeated head butts.

Career

Martin was drafted fifth by the Buffalo Sabers during the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft . He had previously played in the Québec Junior Hockey League for the Thetford Mines Canadiens , before moving to the Montreal Junior Canadiens in the Ontario Hockey Association . In his first year in Montréal, Martin scored 22 goals and won the Memorial Cup with his team . Two years later he scored 71 goals for the Canadiens, was drafted and elected to the OHA's First All-Star Team .

In his first year with the Sabers, he beat his strike partner Perreault's record by scoring 44 goals in his rookie season. Together with his 30 assists, he set a franchise record for rookies with his 74 points. In the 1973/74 season , Martin reached the mark of 52 goals, but the Sabers still missed the play-offs , also because Gilbert Perreault had to suspend the second half of the season with a broken leg. The next season was different. With Perreault and again scored 52 goals by Martin, the Sabers reached the Stanley Cup finals. Martin scored another 15 points in the playoffs.

On November 8, 1980, his career as an active athlete took a turn. In a game against the Washington Capitals at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium , Martin sprinted towards the Capitals gate when forward Ryan Walter tripped him but was not charged. The Capitals goalkeeper, Mike Palmateer , was well out of the goal area and finally brought down Martin by kicking his knee and causing cartilage damage that would ultimately mean the end of Martin's career.

Martin was operated on in Toronto in March 1981 and was transferred to the Los Angeles Kings along with Don Luce by Scotty Bowman , then manager of the Sabers . In return, the Sabers got two draft picks that were used to sign goalkeeper Tom Barrasso in 1983 . Martin completed a total of only five games for the Kings before ending his career after three games in the 1982/83 season.

His shirt number 7 is no longer given by the Sabers and in a ceremony on November 15, 1995 it was hung under the roof of the HSBC Arena , where it has since hung side by side with the jerseys of René Robert and Gilbert Perreault.

International

At the international level, Martin represented his home country at the 1972 Summit Series and the 1976 Canada Cup . At the Summit Series he acted as a reserve player and came in the duels against the USSR to no use. Four years later, he played four games in the first Canada Cup. He scored three goals and set up two more. In the end, he won the gold medal with the Canadians.

Achievements and Awards

International

Career statistics

Regular season Play-offs
season team league Sp T V Pt SM Sp T V Pt SM
1967-68 Thetford Mines Canadiens QJHL 40 38 35 73 7th 2 0 2 4th
1968-69 Montréal Junior Canadiens OHA 52 22nd 21st 43 27 14th 3 0 3 2
1969-70 Montréal Junior Canadiens OHA 34 23 32 55 10 16 14th 20th 34 12
1970-71 Montréal Junior Canadiens OHA 60 71 50 121 106 11 17th 7th 24 10
1971-72 Buffalo Sabers NHL 73 44 30th 74 36 - - - - -
1972-73 Buffalo Sabers NHL 75 37 36 73 79 6th 3 2 5 12
1973-74 Buffalo Sabers NHL 78 52 34 86 38 - - - - -
1974-75 Buffalo Sabers NHL 68 52 43 95 72 17th 7th 8th 15th 20th
1975-76 Buffalo Sabers NHL 80 49 37 86 67 9 4th 7th 11 12
1976-77 Buffalo Sabers NHL 66 36 29 65 58 6th 2 1 3 9
1977-78 Buffalo Sabers NHL 65 28 35 63 16 7th 2 4th 6th 13
1978-79 Buffalo Sabers NHL 73 32 21st 53 35 3 0 3 3 0
1979-80 Buffalo Sabers NHL 80 45 34 79 54 14th 6th 4th 10 8th
1980-81 Buffalo Sabers NHL 23 7th 14th 21st 20th - - - - -
Los Angeles Kings NHL 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
1981-82 Los Angeles Kings NHL 3 1 3 4th 2 - - - - -
OHA total 146 116 103 219 143 41 34 27 61 24
NHL overall 685 384 317 701 477 63 24 29 53 74

International

Represented Canada to:

year team event Sp T V Pt SM
1972 Canada Summit Series Without any effort
1976 Canada Canada Cup 4th 3 2 5 0
Men overall 4th 3 2 5 0

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ nhl.com, 'French Connection' star Rick Martin dies at 59
  2. ↑ Jeff Z. Klein: Former Star Had Disease Linked to Brain Trauma. The New York Times, October 5, 2011, accessed September 12, 2017 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Martin, Rick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Martin, Richard Lionel (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH July 26, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Verdun , Quebec
DATE OF DEATH March 13, 2011
Place of death Clarence , New York