from Dave Stubbs of NHL.com,

Pierre Pilote, a cornerstone defenseman for the Chicago Black Hawks and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, died at 85 Saturday in a hospital in Barrie, Ontario, following a battle with cancer that he had waged the past several months.

Pilote played 890 regular-season games in the NHL, 821 for Chicago between 1955-56 and 1967-68, skating his final 69 for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1968-69.

The 5-foot-10, 178-pound native of Jonquiere, Quebec, was a pillar on defense for the Black Hawks during the 1961 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Chicago winning the championship by defeating the Detroit Red Wings in a six-game Final. The Black Hawks had advanced after having eliminated the heavily favored, regular season-leading Montreal Canadiens, who had finished 17 points ahead of Chicago, in a six-game semifinal.

He was a three-time winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman, in 1963, 1964 and 1965.

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