John Martin handles the puck during a game earlier this season.
When it comes to John Martin and the sport of hockey, he has just one flaw in the eyes of local fans: the team he roots for.
A native of Buffalo, the Robbinsville High junior defenseman was sentenced to a lifetime as a Sabres fan. Supporting the team with the least amount of points in the NHL, Martin is having a rough winter amongst Rangers, Flyers, Islanders and Devils fans.
“It sucks,” he said with a laugh. “I’m the only Sabres fan I know. I get in some arguments, but it’s kind of hard to argue when you’re the worst team in the league.”
Some predicted a similar fate for the Ravens this season after they graduated a slew of talented offensive players. But thanks to the presence of Martin as one of three regular blue liners, Robbinsville had a 10-7-3 record heading into the Mercer County Tournament semifinals against Hun and qualified for the NJSIAA state tournament. It’s the seventh straight year those stats have fallen into place.
“People figured us as a three to five win team and a total rebuild,” coach Dan Bergan said. “These kids have worked so hard and bought into the system with the kind of play that makes the whole better than the sum of the parts. What’s in that lockerroom is all that counts, we don’t listen to outside influences. Our goal is to keep the legacy alive.”
And while high-scoring Shawn Camisa and John Francis have gotten many of the accolades this season, which is the case with any goal scorers, Martin has been the “critical” rock holding it all together.
“We’ve been fortunate this year,” Bergan said. “We lost 10 of our forwards last year, nine to graduation and one to relocation. Offensively, we’ve been hustling to develop there as best we can, and we’ve had very little depth up front. Our whole scheme was to use defense and goaltending and stay in games. With the defensive side of the puck so critical to us and John being so critical to our defense, he’s absolutely a big piece of the success.”
Martin’s journey began in hockey-crazed northwestern New York, when he first got on skates at age 3. The family moved to New Jersey when he was 6, and his dad Louis Martin, a hockey junkie, put John in the U-7 in-house league at IceLand in Hamilton.
He struggled at first, until he was 8 or 9. In fourth grade, he moved to the Mercer Chiefs and had the option of playing for the Mite A or B teams. He would have been the 15th skater on the Mite A team. Louis Martin was coaching the Mite B squad and encouraged his son to play there in order to get some playing time.
“I did that, and that’s where I blossomed,” John said. “When I was in sixth grade, I moved back to defense, and I’ve loved it ever since. I like that I can just get behind the net, settle things down and control the play moving up the ice, and I like killing penalties. I like moving around, getting pressure on the other team and causing lots of havoc.”
Martin left the Chiefs for the Hatfield Ice Dogs in Philadelphia and played there in ninth and 10th grades before returning to the Chiefs this past year.
With his club background, he had little trouble taking regular shifts in his freshman season at Robbinsville.
“He stepped right in,” Bergan said. “But no matter how skilled you are as a freshman, regardless of having a lot of polish—which he did—you’re going to get pushed around a little because you’re not that big and hefty. As he developed into a sophomore and junior, he’s become more physical.”
Bergan said Martin’s grittiest game came in the MCT quarterfinal win over Hopewell. He added that he was the best player on the ice that night, and then took it one step further.
“I’m looking at it from a standpoint of value to a coach and a team, and you could make a case he’s the best player on our team,” Bergan said. “Certainly, there are others. Shawn Camisa and John Francis would be neck and neck there, but you could make a case he’s just as valuable.”
Martin said feedback like that makes him more determined to improve.
“It’s nice having the coach and all those guys backing me,” he said.
Martin is paired with either Jimmy Kenna or freshman Ryan Van Duren in the Ravens three-defenseman system.
“It was definitely a challenge,” Martin said. “Ryan is a freshman and is playing outstanding. We’ve gone three defensemen all year, I never had to do that when I was a freshman.”
For the most part, the trio has been sturdy, although Martin admits “it can get pretty stressful” against fast teams like Notre Dame.
But stress is not usually a problem with Martin. He feels one of the best traits a defenseman can have is the ability to see the ice and stay calm.
“For me the big thing is probably vision,” he said. “A lot of defensemen will get the puck and don’t know what to do. When I get it, I like to look up and see my surroundings and not panic. You have to be able to handle the pressure.”
Bergan marvels at Martin’s ability to see things while also mixing in other strong skills.
“The most important part is he has wonderful vision on the ice,” the coach said. “At times in a pinch, he’s almost a one-man breakout, so to speak, to get the puck out of the zone. He’s a wonderful puck handler, very smooth, very polished. He can pretty much do anything with the puck he wants to.”
His playmaking skills are a good example, as Martin was third on the team in assists with 15 as of mid-February. He says he is more interested in setting up teammates than scoring goals, but his biggest enjoyment is stopping other teams.
“Probably the best thing I can say about him is when one of the top players in the CVC is coming down the ice I catch my breath and then I say ‘Oh, John’s got him, we’re good,’” Bergan said. “He’s an excellent one-on-one defender.”
Those are the situations Martin lives for.
“I love that more than anything,” he said. “I just want the best guy to come down on me so I can prove myself.”
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