Captain Crunch

If you look up ”fireplug” in the hockey dictionary, there’s a picture of Gilles Marotte there. This guy was a fearless force. First of all he was 5' - 9", the same size as Butchie Goring  (35 lbs. heavier)!, They shared debut seasons with the L.A. Kings in 1970. He was a strong skater, with a heavy shot and threw thundering body checks all over the ice. Thus his nickname. The thing I remember most about him, however, was his crazy dangerous shot blocking technique. He wore no helmet, yet would challenge outside shooters by sliding towards them, full frontal crudity, on his knees (there’s somethin’ you don’t see much nowadays) seemingly daring the shooter to  hit him in the face… or nuts. I recall seeing several games that season from lower level seats and wanting to turn away or at least close my eyes, as Marotte would slide out towards the slapshot windup of his opponent. I seriously worried about seeing chunks of skull and brain flying out of the rink.
Marrote, a native of Montreal, was a high Boston Bruins draft pick. He was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks after just two seasons in B-town. Phil Esposito and Ken Hodge went the other way. (I bet some Blackhawk fans are crying in their blogs about that trade!). I don’t know why he was traded by Chicago to the Kings in a 6 player deal, but he became an L.A. fan favorite right away. Captain Crunch made the NHL All Star team in 1973 as a King. He had 6 goals & 39 assists that season, so next season he got traded to the playoff bound New York Rangers. He was just what the Rangers needed and helped crunch them deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs losing  in the semis to the eventual cup winners, the Philadelphia Flyers. After he retired,  Marotte played in many hockey charity games until he succumbed to pancreatic cancer just after turning 60.