Gilles Marotte: NHL’s Captain Crunch For Just Over A Decade

A Montreal native that never got to play for the Canadiens, Gilles Marotte appeared in 808 regular season NHL games but saw a limited 29 games in the Stanley Cup playoffs. His National Hockey League career was bracketed by championships, winning the Memorial Cup with the Niagara Falls Flyers in 1964-65 and a Central Hockey League title with the Kansas City Blues in 1976-77.

Marotte also spent a season in the World Hockey Association, 1977-78. It would be his last year in pro hockey and he played for two different teams, the Cincinnati Stingers and Indianapolis Racers. Similar to the teams he played for during his NHL days, both those teams did not qualify for the Avco World Trophy playoffs. Gilles passed away in 2005 after a battle with cancer.

Junior and Minor Pro

NHL/WHA Career

Hockey Card Collection

Rookie Card

Career Stats

Gilles Marotte – Junior and Minor Pro

Gilles Marotte played five years of junior hockey from 1961-62 to 1965-66. His first two years were in Quebec with the Victoriaville Bruins and his final three were in the OHA with the Niagara Falls Flyers. Both those teams were sponsored by the Boston Bruins.

In 1964-65, Marotte helped the Flyers finish first overall in the eight team league, ten points ahead of the second place Toronto Marlboros. He tied for a spot on the First All-Star Team with fellow defenseman, Jim McKenny from the Marlboros. The two teams met in the finals with Niagara Falls walking away with the championship.

Next, the Flyers took out the Lachine Maroons for the Richardson Cup championship and a chance to play for the Memorial Cup. In the Mem finals, one game ended in a brawl but Niagara Falls was able to take out the Edmonton Oil Kings for the title.

In 1965-66, Marotte jumped to the NHL, playing 13 games with Niagara Falls and 51 games with the Boston Bruins. He would not spend time in the minors until 1976-77. After being picked by the St. Louis Blues off waivers at the start of the season, Gilles played sparingly with the Blues and was sent down to the CHL. He appeared in 26 regular season and seven playoff games with the Kansas City Blues, helping the club to a championship, beating the Tulsa Oilers in the finals.

Gilles Marotte – NHL/WHA

Between 1965-66 and 1976-77, Gilles Marotte played in 808 regular season NHL games with the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues. Over that time, the blue liner scored 56 goals and assisted on 265 for 321 points. He appeared in 29 Stanley Cup playoff games, adding six points.

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Gilles Marotte Collection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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After two decent seasons in Boston, Marotte was part of one of the most memorable trades in National Hockey League history. On May 15, 1967, Gilles, Jack Norris and Pit Martin were sent to the Blackhawks. Going to Boston were Ken Hodge, Phil Esposito and Fred Stanfield.

February 20, 1970 brought another trade for Marotte and another Stanfield brother was involved. This time, he went to the Los Angeles Kings with Denis DeJordy and Jim Stanfield (Fred’s brother). Going to Chicago were Bryan Campbell, Gerry Desjardins and Bill White.

After some good years with the Kings, Gilles was traded again on November 30, 1973 with Real Lemieux to the New York Rangers. Going in the other direction were Sheldon Kannegiesser, Mike Murphy and Tom Williams. He was then claimed off waivers from the Rangers by the Blues at the start of 1976-77.

Not loved by Toronto Maple Leafs fans, Marotte was responsible for the broken wrist that allowed Darryl Sittler to play in just 49 games in his rookie 1970-71 season. This was due to a nasty cross-check in January, 1971 in a game between the Maple Leafs and Kings.

After being relegated to the minors by St. Louis in 1976-77, Gilles jumped to the World Hockey Association for 1977-78. Overall, he scored three goals and assisted on 20 for 23 points over 78 games. His first 29 games were with the Cincinnati Stingers and his final 44 were with the Indianapolis Racers. Neither club qualified for the post season.

Gilles Marotte – Rookie Card

The Gilles Marotte rookie card appears as number 36 in the 1966-67 Topps NHL hockey card set and he is shown with the Boston Bruins. His final card is included in the 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee set as a member of the St. Louis Blues, although he is pictured in a New York Rangers jersey.

As per his 1968-69 O-Pee-Chee card, Marotte turned down an offer to play professional baseball in order to pursue his hockey career. As per his 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee card, his baseball position was catcher.

Gilles Marotte Career Stats

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1961-62	Victoriaville Bruins	QPJHL	43	15	31	46	170
1962-63	Victoriaville Bruins	QPJHL	52	12	25	37	0
1963-64	Niagara Falls Flyers	OHA	56	12	34	46	160
1964-65	Niagara Falls Flyers	OHA	52	12	25	37	122
1965-66	Niagara Falls Flyers	OHA	13	2	20	22	52
1965-66	Boston Bruins	NHL	51	3	17	20	52
1966-67	Boston Bruins	NHL	67	7	8	15	112
1967-68	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	73	0	21	21	122
1968-69	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	68	5	29	34	120
1969-70	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	51	5	13	18	52
1969-70	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	21	0	6	6	32
1970-71	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	78	6	27	33	96
1971-72	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	72	10	24	34	83
1972-73	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	78	6	39	45	70
1973-74	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	22	1	11	12	23
1973-74	New York Rangers	NHL	46	2	17	19	28
1974-75	New York Rangers	NHL	77	4	32	36	69
1975-76	New York Rangers	NHL	57	4	17	21	34
1976-77	Kansas City Blues	CHL	26	1	10	11	46
1976-77	St. Louis Blues	NHL	47	3	4	7	26
1977-78	Cincinnati Stingers	WHA	29	1	7	8	58
1977-78	Indianapolis Racers	WHA	44	2	13	15	18
	NHL Totals		808	56	265	321	919
	WHA Totals		73	3	20	23	76