Pit Martin (1943-2008) (NHL 1962-1979, Canucks 1977-1979) | 7 | C

[Kevin Biestra]

It's hard to believe it's been 16 years since Pit Martin passed away.  I remember seeing the news on the old forum and it doesn't feel like that long ago.  But I just wanted to make a quick post and talk about the player I remember as one of the first late-career super-veteran "cup of coffee" acquisitions by the Canucks (later to be joined in that category by players like Esa Tikkanen, Randy Gregg, Mel Bridgman, etc.).

 

He still may well be, but for a long long time, Pit Martin was one of the best hockey players ever to wear a Canucks jersey, even if only relatively briefly.

 

Over 17 NHL seasons, he played 1101 games and scored 324 goals and 809 points, putting him in a career numbers class with guys like Trevor Linden and Cliff Ronning.  Martin just did most of his best work with the Blackhawks, where he was toiling in the shadow of Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito.  Dennis Hull was practically a Hall of Famer in terms of caliber and achievements and couldn't get out of his brother's shadow on his own team.

 

Martin played in four All Star Games, back when it was really hard to get into those, and was also 10th for the Hart Trophy one year.  He peaked with 90 points in 1972-73, which would have been the Canucks team record for a little more than the next decade.

 

The Canucks were really lucky to have him, especially at a time when they were working to build a respectable history.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 23 by Kevin Biestra

[CaptainCanuck12]

Young me was so psyched when we acquired Martin, as he as one of the highest profile players the Canucks had ever had on their roster at the time.  Derek Sanderson and Mike Walton were two players of similar status that we acquired late in their careers and also only stayed for brief periods of time.

Edited November 25 by CaptainCanuck12

[Kevin Biestra]

15 hours ago, CaptainCanuck12 said:

Young me was so psyched when we acquired Martin, as he as one of the highest profile players the Canucks had ever had on their roster at the time.  Derek Sanderson and Mike Walton were two players of similar status that we acquired late in their careers and also only stayed for brief periods of time.

 

Peter McNab as well, and when we reacquired Bobby Schmautz at the end of his career...both were on Don Cherry's famous "eleven 20 goal scorers" Bruins team and McNab had led them with 41 or something.

 

Al MacAdam (Masterton Trophy winner and 90 point player was another one).  He played his last season with the Canucks, as did Mel Bridgman (another great super-veteran) in 1988-89.  Acquiring Ivan Boldirev similarly (more in the 10th hour of his career than the 11th like the other guys) was also a significant part of the 1982 Cup run.  After he left us for his last year or two, he was sort of to Steve Yzerman what Blair MacDonald was to early Wayne Gretzky.  In Yzerman's rookie year, Boldirev more or less tied Yzerman for the Red Wings scoring lead (80-something points) and had a big scoring resurgence at age 35 or so.

 

 

 

Edited November 26 by Kevin Biestra