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In 1967, the 34-year-old goalie signed as a free agent with the fledgling St. Louis Blues, one of six expansion teams joining the NHL.

Seth Martin worked as a firefighter at a smelter in British Columbia. When not guarding against flames, he donned protective gear of another kind to play goal for the local senior hockey team.

Mr. Martin, who has died at 81, was the greatest amateur goaltender of his era, leading the Trail (B.C.) Smoke Eaters to a world championship in 1961. He also represented Canada at the 1964 Olympics, where he was named the tournament's top goaltender, an honour he won in three of the four world championships in which he competed.

Mr. Martin dazzled hockey fans in Europe, influencing a generation of goaltenders with an attacking style in which he would skate from the crease to confront a shooter. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound goalie was also known for his adept use of the goal stick and for a quick glove hand.

After a single season in the NHL, Mr. Martin returned to Trail, opting for the security of a firefighter's job.

Humble by nature, Mr. Martin never displayed the braggadocio one might expect from a world-class athlete. He took a quiet, blue-collar pride in doing his job, whether extinguishing fires, or stopping disks of frozen vulcanized rubber.

Blocking pucks is not a job for the fainthearted and he suffered countless injuries over the years, becoming one of the first hockey goalies to wear a mask. The basement of the family home became a workshop as he tinkered with designs, producing facial protection for members of the netminding fraternity throughout Europe and North America. His early, crude samples gave goalies a sinister profile.

Mr. Martin was born on May 4, 1933, in Rossland, a gold-rush town in the Monashee Mountains of British Columbia now known as a ski resort. He was named Seath Martin after his father, a Scottish immigrant, though he seethed at hearing his name mispronounced, so he dropped the second vowel of his first name early in his hockey career.

At age 17, he joined the Lethbridge Native Sons junior team in neighbouring Alberta, winning team rookie honours though missing three weeks of action after suffering a chipped pelvic bone in a goalmouth collision.

In 1953, he joined the Smoke Eaters, a senior team which took its name from the lead and zinc smelter upon which the local economy depended. Defence was a secondary consideration in senior hockey and Mr. Martin faced barrages of shots, allowing an average of more than four goals a game. The heavy workload would prove excellent training for when the Smoke Eaters were selected to represent Canada at the 1961 world championship in Switzerland.

With Mr. Martin in goal in games played on an outdoor rink, the amateur club from Canada tied Czechoslovakia (1-1) and defeated the Soviet Union (5-1) to claim the gold medal. The Smoke Eaters returned home as conquering heroes, wearing white Stetsons atop a firetruck as fans lined both sides of the highway for a 26-kilometre celebratory parade from the airport in Castlegar to downtown Trail. Canada would not win another world championship for 33 years.

Later, Rev. David Bauer, a Roman Catholic priest who put together a team of amateur student athletes to represent Canada, invited Mr. Martin to join his national program. At 30, he was the oldest player on the Canadian Olympic hockey team in 1964.

In the Olympic tournament at Innsbruck, Austria, the young Canadians went undefeated in five games before facing Czechoslovakia.

"I had a good feeling about playing in that game," Mr. Martin said 10 years ago. "I felt there was no way I was going to lose." Canada was nursing a 1-0 lead when the game turned on what seemed like an inconsequential play early in the third period. "I went out of the net to clear the puck. [Miroslav] Vlach, the Czech forward, ran into me. It was unintentional. I hurt the inside of my left knee. Twisted it just enough."

Unable to go on, the goalie was replaced by backup Ken Broderick, an untested goalie nine days from his 22nd birthday. Mr. Martin's absence inspired the Czechs, who attacked with vigour, putting three shots behind the replacement for a 3-1 victory.

The Canadians faced the undefeated Soviets the following day, a gold medal still a possibility. Mr. Broderick got the start and after two periods the score was 2-2. Father Bauer, playing a hunch, asked Mr. Martin to play the third. "I'll do the best I can, Father," he replied.

The wily Soviet coach, Anatoly Tarasov, not wanting the goalie to have a chance to get warmed up, instructed his team not to shoot until they had a certain scoring chance. Sure enough, the Soviets completed a three-on-two rush by pushing their first shot past Mr. Martin. He then performed miracles, blocking 18 Soviet shots as desperate teammates tried unsuccessfully to score at the other end.

The victory gave the Soviets the gold, while Canada finished in a three-way tie with the Czechs and Sweden. The Canadians figured they had won a bronze medal based on goal differential only to be told officials ruled the team finished in fourth place. Mr. Martin was named the top Olympic goaltender.

In 1967, the 34-year-old goalie signed as a free agent with the fledgling St. Louis Blues, one of six expansion teams joining the NHL. On Oct. 11, he was between the pipes when the Blues made their NHL debut at St. Louis Arena, a 2-2 tie with the Minnesota North Stars. Mr. Martin played in 30 games in the Blues' inaugural season. He had one shutout and a goals-against average of 2.59 as a backup to Glenn Hall.

He won the Allan Cup senior hockey championship three times – with the Smoke Eaters in 1962 and with the Spokane (Wash.) Jets in 1970 and 1972.

Mr. Martin was one of the original 30 inductees on the formation of the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1997. He has been inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame (1988) and the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame (1998). He has also had his name added to a Home of Champions Monument in Trail.

Mr. Martin died at the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital in Trail on Sept. 6. He leaves Bev (née Linn), his wife of 61 years; three daughters; seven grandsons; eight great-grandchildren; and two sisters. He was predeceased by two brothers and two sisters.

When the Soviet Union came to Canada in 1972 to play the first of eight exhibition games, dubbed the Summit Series, a Soviet official asked sports writer Red Fisher about the new kid in Canada's net. "Your goaltender Ken Dryden," the official asked, "is he as good as Seth Martin?"

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