Blackhawks' Alec Martinez to Retire From NHL After 16 Seasons, Won 3 Stanley Cups

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Alec Martinez, who won two Stanley Cups with the Los Angeles Kings and one with the Vegas Golden Knights, is retiring at the end of his 16th NHL season.

Martinez announced his upcoming retirement when speaking to CHSN's Darren Pang ahead of the Blackhawks' final home game of the season on Saturday night.

After playing the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, the Blackhawks will wrap up Martinez's final season with road games against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday and Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

Martinez joined the Blackhawks on a one-year contract last July.

Originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings out of Miami University in 2007, he cracked the Kings' roster on a full-time basis in 2010-11.

Martinez went on to play in all 20 games of the 2012 playoffs as the Kings won the Stanley Cup over the New Jersey Devils.

He will best be remembered in Los Angeles for his role in helping the franchise win another championship two years later.

In double overtime of Game 5 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals, with the Kings leading the series with the New York Rangers 3-1, Martinez scored the championship-clinching goal for the Kings by slamming Tyler Toffoli's rebound past Henrik Lundqvist.

Martinez was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in February 2020.

He went on to once more start every playoff game during a Stanley Cup run in 2023 as the Golden Knights advanced to defeat the Florida Panthers.

Martinez recently missed nine games with a hip injury before returning to the lineup for Saturday's game.

Pang pointed out that Martinez's parents were in the crowd at United Center for Saturday's game against the Jets.

“A lot of different emotions today, but just very thankful, very appreciative of a lot of people," Martinez told Pang ahead of the game. "My family, a lot of people who helped me, helped me along the way in this game, get here, once I got here.

"My wife, my son, my daughter that I’m going to have in about five days. I suppose I’ll have more time to reflect in the coming weeks, but just very thankful, very appreciative of a lot of different things and a lot of different people.”

Martinez has recorded five goals and seven assists in 43 games for Chicago this season. Heading into Saturday's game, he had registered 88 total goals and 201 total assists in 861 career regular-season games for the Kings, Golden Knights and Blackhawks.