I was saddened this week to hear of Pit Martin's passing. He was a fine hockey player, and a decent young man.

I remember the first time I saw him play, back with the Red Wings. He was a scrappy little so-and-so, and I told him so.

He went to Boston, back before they were anything, you know. In fact, part of the thing that made everyone kind of feel for Pit, other than the fact that his parents named him Hubert, which made Pit seem like not so bad a deal after all, was that his being traded away from Boston to the Blackhawks was what turned Boston into something.

See, they had the blonde kid who played defense like nobody else, Orr. They had the Chief, Bucyk. They had Cheesy in net, before he painted stitches all over his mask. I've got to tell you, the stitches on the mask sure broke old Slats up the first time I saw it.

But you see, the Hawks had the big Esposito kid, who the Golden Jet didn't really like. Which was fine, since they had Wharram at center, and Stosh too. They finished first, then got bounced right out in the playoffs. They figured a guy like Pit could come in, and the Jet might like him better.

We all know how it turned out, the Hawks send Esposito and Ken Hodge to Boston where they win the Stanley Cup a couple times, and the Blackhawks didn't, but they wound up getting an Esposito who not only played one hell of a goal, but Hull liked him too.

Martin took some guff for a while from the Hawk fans, with the big Esposito scoring all those goals and whatnot over in Boston. Pit's third year in Chicago, he scored 30, and he skated with Jimmy Pappin, who was tall and skinny, and Hull's brother. I still remember Jack Brickhouse used to try calling Hull's brother "The Silver Jet", since Hull was the Golden Jet, even though there was nothing silver about him. They were both losing their hair, the Hulls were, but neither of them thought to wear helmets like Martin and Stosh, who had plenty of hair. Go figure.

Pit played with the Hawks a long time. He stuck around so long that he got to play with Orr again when Orr came to Chicago, which was good copy, even though we could all tell Orr's time was up. But he was something to see in his day, I'll tell you that.

Pit played out his string in Vancouver, which wasn't even in the league first time I saw him. He was from the other end of Canada, but sometimes you can't pick where you wind up, you just keep on going.

He died on a snowmobile, I understand. Good for him. You always want to go out doing something you love.

He'll never make the Hall of Fame as a player, which never bothered him, I know. But he was sure a Hall of Fame gentleman.

I'll make sure one drink gets drunk for old Pit Martin this weekend, I'll tell you that.