Former NHL great Rick Martin had degenerative brain disease

Boston University researchers have found a degenerative disease linked to head trauma in the brain tissue of the late NHL great Rick Martin, the first 50-goal scorer for the Buffalo Sabres and a member of their famed French Connection line.

Martin, becomes the third former NHL player found by researchers to have had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) — a disease that causes cognitive decline, behavioural abnormalities and ultimately dementia.

All three former NHL players who agreed to have their brains studied post-mortem at the centre — Martin, Bob Probert and Reggie Fleming — have now been shown to have had CTE, but Martin is the first who did not play an enforcer role and regularly participate in on-ice fights, the centre says.

Rick Martin is taken off on a stretcher after his head struck the ice
during a game against the New York Rangers in February 1978.
Mickey Osterreicher/Buffalo Courier Express/Associated Press


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