MINEOLA, N.Y. -- The estranged wife of New York Islanders captain Denis Potvin said Thursday that when she was treated by doctors for stomach problems she never mentioned she had been beaten by her husband.
Potvin, 29, is seeking a divorce, but his wife is opposing it unless there is a renegotiation of the financial terms of their separation.
Under a January 1980 agreement, Mrs. Potvin is receiving $40,000 annually for 10 years.
On Wednesday, Mrs. Potvin testified that her husband frequently beat her when he was under the influence of liquor or drugs. She did not specify what kind of drugs.
Outside court that day, Potvin's attorney, Samuel Fredman, denied to reporters that Potvin used narcotics and said he would prove this under cross examination.
Testifying in state Supreme Court, 28-year-old Deborah Potvin stated she sought medical treatment because the stress stemming from the couple's stormy marriage had given her stomach trouble.
When Fredman asked her whether she ever displayed any bruises to the doctors or told them that she had been beaten by her husband, she answered, 'No.'
Fredman later said he did not raise the issue of Potvin's alleged drug use during Thursday's proceedings because he felt there was no need to interrogate Mrs. Potvin about the drugs because he had discredited her testimony on other matters.
The trial concluded with testimony from Gordon Marsh, a former attorney for Mrs. Potvin, whom she retained in 1979 when the marriage began to break up.
Marsh said Mrs. Potvin had never told him about any drug use by Potvin, but on one occasion she stated there had been some 'violence' inflicted on her by him. Marsh said he could not recall anything more about this conversation.
