The former Ottawa Senators head coach said he is no longer with the organization and is hanging up his skates at age of 73.

Jacques Martin is quietly thinking of skating off into the sunset.

The winningest coach in the history of the Ottawa Senators told Montreal-based radio station 98.5 FM in French on Friday night that he’s no longer with the organization and has given serious thought to hanging up his skates.

“I’ve worked in the National League for about 40 years, and I think it’s time to retire,” Martin told host Mario Langlois during a 70-minute appearance on his popular show Les Amateurs des Sports.

Pressed by Langlois on whether he was announcing his retirement, Martin responded: “We’ll see.” He didn’t want to make it official, but he hasn’t been on hand at Ottawa’s training camp, and has understands that this could be it for his career.

A club spokesperson confirmed on Sunday that Martin, 73, will no longer work in his role in hockey operations with the Senators, but the plan is to have him involved with the organization’s initiatives in the community.

If this is indeed the end for Martin in the National Hockey League, it’s the end of an era for the native of nearby St. Pascal.

You have to hope that someday Martin, who will be 74 next month, gets into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the builder category because he has touched a lot of lives along the way.

He started his coaching career in the Ontario Hockey League as Roger Neilson’s assistant for two seasons with the Peterborough Petes and won a Memorial Cup with the Guelph Platers in 1986 in his first stint as a head coach.

Martin took over as the head coach of the St. Louis Blues in 1986 and spent two seasons under the late legendary GM Ron “The Prof” Caron.

From there, his career read like a road map of North America, with stops as an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks, Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins. He won two Stanley Cup titles as an assistant with Mike Sullivan in Pittsburgh.

Martin also served as the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers. He was also GM of the Panthers and served as an assistant with the New York Rangers after leaving Pittsburgh.

But Ottawa will always be the place he calls home.

Martin spent eight years behind the Senators’ bench from 1996 to 2004 and had a second stint as interim head coach at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, coaching 748 games with Ottawa. He then held a senior advisor role. His Senators squads compiled a 367-261-96-24 overall record.

Martin was hired as a senior advisor to the coaching staff in December 2023. He took over behind the bench with former captain Daniel Alfredsson as an assistant when D.J. Smith was fired on Dec. 18 before a game against the Arizona Coyotes.

Martin was inducted into the club’s Ring of Honour earlier this year, on Jan. 24, which was the 30th anniversary of the start of his first stint behind the Ottawa bench in 1996. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe declared it “Jacques Martin Day” in the city of Ottawa.

When Martin took over the Senators midway through the 1995-96 campaign, he brought immediate respectability to the organization. He left a job as an assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche to take over the Senators after Dave Allison’s disastrous, short stay with the club.

Martin coached some of the best players who have suited up for this organization, not just Alfredsson. These included Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara, who went on to Hockey Hall of Fame careers, along with Martin Havlat, Shawn McEachern, Alexei Yashin and Patrick Lalime.

Brought back for a second stint with Ottawa by Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, after Michael Andlauer’s ownership group took over the franchise in 2023, Martin tried to help shape the young players into better defensive players.

He spent two full seasons as an advisor when Travis Green took over as the club’s head coach to start the 2024-25 campaign. When Martin was in town, he’d act as an eye in the sky in the press box and worked closely with Green to provide advice.

Martin, who spends his winters at his home near Fort Lauderdale, told Langlois he takes great pride in his career.

“My only regret with the Senators is not having won a Stanley Cup,” Martin said.

That’s a regret shared by many who watched those teams come so close. Still, Martin leaves the game as the winningest coach in franchise history and one of the architects of Ottawa’s rise to becoming a contender.

That’s not a bad legacy for a kid from the small town of St. Pascal.

Martin can leave knowing he left the game in a better place than he found it.