Matt Martin Has Skates --Will Travel Anywhere

Matt Martin woke up this morning in Orlando, Fla. Or was it Atlanta? Houston, maybe?

Saturday, he’ll play hockey with Team USA in Memphis, Tenn. Or will it be with the Maple Leafs in Toronto? Next week, Martin expects to be in Moscow with Team USA’s Olympic hopefuls. He thinks so, anyway. Who knows?

The way life has gone the past four months, the defenseman from Hamden, Conn., doesn’t know which city he’ll be in or for which team he’ll play next.

“It’s been hectic. I’ve been bouncing around a lot,” Martin said while in between hockey stops and airport transfers. “My family doesn’t even know where I am.”

Martin, 22, began the season with Team USA and played in tournaments in Finland and Alaska in August. Then, when Maple Leafs defenseman Bob Rouse was suspended in October, Martin was called up for three games with Toronto, which signed him to a contract last spring. Once Rouse returned, Martin was sent back to Team USA.

Eleven days later, Toronto defenseman Todd Gill was injured, and Martin was recalled by the Leafs for five games. Gill is still out, but Martin was allowed to rejoin Team USA for tournaments in France and Norway and more of the pre-Olympic tour in the United States. The last time he looked, Martin was wearing a Team USA uniform. Two months from now, he hopes to still be wearing America’s colors at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

“I think I’m here to stay until the Olympics are over,” Martin said. “I hope so, anyway.”

So does Team USA coach Tim Taylor. He wants the big defenseman on his team the next two months.

“Matty’s a very solid defensive defenseman,” said Taylor, who is on a leave of absence from Yale until after the Winter Games (Feb. 12-27).

“If we can get him to do that on the large rinks we’ll play on at the Olympics, he’s going to be an extremely valuable defenseman for us. Far and away, he’s our strongest player in the corners, along the boards and in front of the net.”

Martin’s size (6 foot 4, 210 pounds) appealed to the Maple Leafs when they made him their fourth-round choice, 66th overall, in the 1989 entry draft out of high school. He went on to the University of Maine, where last season, as a junior, he scored 32 points and helped the Black Bears win the NCAA championship.

“Matt has great range, he’s quick, and his mobility is more than adequate for the NHL,” said Bill Watters, Toronto’s assistant GM. “He can be as good as he wants to be. He’s got a future in the NHL.”

Watters and Cliff Fletcher, Maple Leafs president and general manager, promised Taylor they wouldn’t recall Martin after Jan. 1.

“If not for our commitment to the U.S. program, as well as our commitment to our own (Canadian) Olympic program, Matt would probably be up here now,” Watters said. “We want him to enjoy the Olympic experience.

“Matt’s in a win-win situation.”

Martin started airport-hopping even before the U.S. Olympians began their tour. Right after Maine won the NCAA title, he signed with the Maple Leafs, who immediately assigned him to their minor league team in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Martin played two regular season games with the American Hockey League team and scored six points in nine playoff games before St. John’s was eliminated.

He took time off in May but hasn’t had a break from hockey since.

“I’ve been fortunate to play with both the Olympic team and the NHL,” Martin said. “(The Olympics) is what you play for, and I just happened to catch an Olympic year when I was at the right age level.

“It’s a great steppingstone to the next level.”

In its pre-Olympic tour of U.S. and Canadian cities, Team USA is 25-11-5, including victories over the Whalers and St. Louis Blues. In their seven-game series with Russia, the U.S. Olympians have won three of the first four. Saturday, Martin scored the winning goal in a 7-6 victory.