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Divers find body of former NHL All-Star Martin
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-03 10:21
ROUYN-NORANDA _ Police divers recovered the body of Hubert "Pit" Martin, a four-time NHL All-Star in the 1960s and '70s, who drowned after the snowmobile he was driving plunged into an icy lake near his home.

Divers found Martin's body on Tuesday, Quebec provincial police said.

Const. Marie-Josee Ouellet said Martin was driving the vehicle on Lake Kanasuta in northwestern Quebec on Sunday when the ice cracked and he plunged into the freezing water.

Another man who was driving a separate snowmobile at the time confirmed Martin ended up in the water, Ouellet said.

Martin, who would have turned 65 next week, lived on an island in the lake that was reached by boat in summer and snowmobile in winter, but there were always tricky periods in spring and autumn when the ice had to be tested regularly, said former Chicago Blackhawks teammate Dale Tallon, who was now the team's general manager.

Martin played 1,101 NHL games with the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks, amassing 809 points from 1963-79.

He was a strong skater and passer whose best years came on Chicago's MPH line with Jim Pappin and Dennis Hull. The Blackhawks had been planning to honor the line at the United Center this season.

Nicknamed Pit after a character in a comic strip, Martin spent his last two seasons with Vancouver, retiring in 1979.