Two National Hockey League veterans announced their retirement on Saturday. Before the game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, Blackhawks left winger Patrick Maroon of St. Louis, Missouri and Blackhawks defenseman Alec Martinez of Rochester Hills, Michigan announced that Saturday’s game would be their final NHL game. After the game was over, a 5-4 Jets shootout win, the Jets’s players stood in line on the ice to shake Maroon’s and Martinez’s hands.
Patrick Maroon’s NHL career
Maroon played 14 seasons in the NHL. He was with the Anaheim Ducks for five seasons from 2011 to 2016, the Edmonton Oilers for three seasons from 2016 to 2018, the New Jersey Devils for one season in 2018, the St. Louis Blues for one season from 2018 to 2019, the Tampa Bay Lightning for four seasons from 2019 to 2023, the Minnesota Wild and Boston Bruins in 2023-24, and the Chicago Blackhawks for one season in 2024-25.
A three-time Stanley Cup winner, Maroon won with the Blues in 2019, and the Lightning in 2020 and 2021. In 848 regular season games, Maroon had 126 goals and 197 assists for 323 points. He was a +6 with 1087 penalty minutes, 59 power-play points, 19 game-winning goals, 1195 shots on goal, one hat trick, 127 faceoff wins, 155 blocked shots, 1590 hits, 208 takeaways and 296 giveaways. The hat trick came in a 4-3 Oilers win over the Boston Bruins on January 5, 2017. Recognized as an enforcer at times, Maroon led the NHL in penalty minutes with 150 while with the Lightning in 2022-23.
This season for the Blackhawks, Maroon had five goals and 14 assists for 19 points. He was a -13 with 97 penalty minutes, one power-play point, one game winning goal, 73 shots on goal, 36 faceoff wins, nine blocked shots, 102 hits, four takeaways, and 37 giveaways. The game-winning goal came on January 3, 2025 in a 4-2 Blackhawks win over the Montreal Canadiens on January 3. At 3:01 of the third period, Maroon scored from Ryan Donato of Boston, Massachusetts and Craig Smith of Madison, Wisconsin on an all-American goal which put Chicago up 3-1 at the time. The power-play point was a power-play goal and came in a 6-3 Blackhawks win over the Anaheim Ducks on March 1, 2025. Maroon scored from Lukas Reichel of Nurnberg, Germany and Martinez at 10:21 of the second period, and put the Blackhawks up 2-1 at the time.
Alec Martinez
Martinez played 16 seasons in the NHL. He was with the Los Angeles Kings for 11 seasons from 2009 to 2020. Martinez was then with the Vegas Golden Knights for five seasons from 2020 to 2024, and the Blackhawks for one season from 2024 to 2025.
In 862 regular season games, Martinez had 88 goals and 201 assists for 289 points. He was a +73 with 250 penalty minutes, 84 power-play points, four shorthanded points, 16 game-winning goals, 1205 shots on goal, 1884 blocked shots, 1041 hits, 144 takeaways and 549 giveaways.
In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Martinez won three Stanley Cups. He was with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014, and with the Golden Knights in 2023. Martinez also scored playoff overtime winners. The first was on June 1, 2014 in a 5-4 Kings win over the Blackhawks in game seven of the Western Conference Final. Martinez scored from Justin Williams of Cobourg, Ontario and defenseman Matt Greene of Grand Ledge, Michigan at 5:47 of the extra period. The second came on June 13, 2014 in a 3-2 Kings win over the New York Rangers in game five of the Stanley Cup Finals. Martinez scored from Tyler Tofolli of Scarborough, Ontario and Kyle Clifford of Ayr, Ontario at 14:43 of the extra period as the Kings won the Stanley Cup.
This season for the Blackhawks, Martinez had five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 44 games. He was a -15 with eight penalty minutes, two power-play points, 38 shots on goal, 81 blocked shots, 24 hits, nine takeaways, and 41 giveaways.
