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Ahead of the Saturday night game between the Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks, defenseman Alec Martinez told Darren Pang that he would be retiring at the end of this season while talking to him live on CHSN.
Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) on X
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This game was already a send-off for Patrick Maroon, who announced his retirement earlier this season. Both Martinez and Maroon will finish their careers in this game as neither will go against the Montreal Canadiens or Ottawa Senators next week. Both players were in the starting lineup for Chicago.
Martinez is a three-time Stanley Cup champion. Two of them came with the Los Angeles Kings and one with the Vegas Golden Knights. Throughout his 862-game NHL career, Martinez scored 88 goals and had 101 assists for 289 points.
For having a fair amount of offensive production, Martinez was primarily a stay-at-home defenseman who played his role well. Being a shut-down guy on an elite team was his forte back in the day.
Before joining the Blackhawks this season, Chicago had a bad taste in their mouth about Martinez due to his success against them. One of his many battles against Chicago in the playoffs with Los Angeles ended with him scoring in overtime of a Western Conference Finals game seven.
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Two weeks later, Martinez scored an overtime series winner against the New York Rangers to capture his second of three cups. Again, not bad for a defensive-minded guy. There is no doubting his clutch gene.
Martinez should be incredibly proud of what he accomplished in the National Hockey League. For his style of play and the skills he brought to the table, he got the most out of his career.
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