Gilles Marotte

Jean Gilles "Captain Crunch" Marotte (June 7, 1945 – July 26, 2005) was a Canadian defenceman who played in the National Hockey League with the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues. Born in Montreal, Quebec, he played junior hockey for the Victoriaville Bruins in Quebec before joining the Niagara Falls Flyers of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1963. He was a first-team all-star on the Flyers team that won the 1965 Memorial Cup. Both of his junior clubs were affiliated with the Boston Bruins, and Marotte began his NHL career with Boston in 1965. In May 1967 he was part of one of the biggest trades in NHL history, going to Chicago as one of three players in the deal that brought Phil Esposito to Boston. Marotte spent most of the next three seasons with the Black Hawks before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings in February 1970. While with the Kings in January 1971, he broke rookie Darryl Sittler's wrist with a cross-check, the most serious injury of Sittler's career. Marotte represented the Kings at the 1973 National Hockey League All-Star Game and recorded a career-high 45 points that season.