Latest news with #JoeyMartin
BBC News
a day ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'Really special' - Devils celebrate GOAT Martin
"It's difficult to describe the impact Joey Martin has had on this organisation on and off the ice."For managing director Todd Kelman, Cardiff Devils' number 88 is, "our best player over the last decade". For most fans, forward Martin is simply the GOAT - the greatest of all Saturday (17:00 BST) at the Vindico Arena, the 36-year-old from Ontario joins a select group of players the club has hounored in recent seasons; Great Britain internationals Mark Richardson, Matthew Myers, Josh Batch and Ben is the first non-British player to be awarded a testimonial game in the past eleven years of the current ownership."I'm extremely grateful, it's really special, it's made me reflect on all the years I've been here."I always feel very fortunate that I landed at this club and have so many great memories that I can look back on," said Martin. Martin first joined the Devils in 2014 and after a brief spell away during Covid returned in his first five-season spell with Cardiff, he won the league's Forward of the Year three times, Player of the Year twice and made the league's All-Star team every the 2024-25 season - his ninth at the Welsh club - he became the highest scoring import player in Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) history and was Devils' Players' Player of the Year."As the league has improved, he has still always been one of the top players," added Kelman on announcing Martin would be back for a 10th campaign in a Devils jersey. "We are very lucky to have had him all these years." 'My love for the game started in the driveway' Martin was born and bred in the small city of Thorold, ten miles west of Niagara Falls on the United States border."Like most Canadian kids my love for the game started in the driveway and the street playing with my brothers and friends and then in the winters on the frozen lakes and ponds," recalls started his junior hockey with local club Thorold Blackhawks, then as a teenager he joined Aurora Tigers in the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League, winning the 2007 Canadian National Junior Championship, the Royal Bank hockey followed whilst studying physical education at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, sometimes in front of 17,000 after captaining Omaha Mavericks in his final student season, in 2011 Martin went professional with Ohio-based Toledo Walleye."Going from school to the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) was a bit of an adjustment. Sometimes you play four games in five nights, a lot of road trips on the bus, it's a bit of a grind," added ECHL sits third in the North America hierarchy, below the American Hockey League (AHL) and the dream destination for all hockey players, the globally-dominant NHL."I had a few different call ups [to the AHL] with Houston Aeros, Texas Stars and Bridgeport Sound Tigers."After three years of that, getting called up and sent down, I was over that whole lifestyle and that's why I ended up pursuing options over here [the UK]." 'I thought, oh no!' In late July 2014 Martin received a call from an old Toledo teammate, Doug Clarkson, who had signed for a British club under new ownership – the Cardiff Devils. They were looking for a centre-mid forward and wanted to know if Martin was the time Martin knew very little about professional hockey in the UK."I thought that people generally came here and did their master's degree at the end of their career," he remembers."I knew it was more of a North American style, it was physical, they had enforcers, so I thought it'd be similar to the East Coast Hockey League but other than that I wasn't familiar with Cardiff, the club or the history."I kind of made a quick decision and I'm very happy with that decision now!"Martin also had no idea that his new hockey home, Devils' ice rink, was just a timber prefab, clad with bright blue tarpaulin."I remember coming on the bus and seeing this big, beautiful glass building and I said, 'Wow! That's a beautiful arena.' And they said, 'No, that's the international swimming pool, the arena's round the corner'."And then we kept driving and I saw the Big Blue Tent and I thought, 'Oh, no!'"But we had a team that just embraced it, we actually loved playing in the tent. It was a hostile environment for other teams, it was definitely an advantage for us." That first season for Martin saw the Devils unexpectedly reach the Challenge Cup Final, where they faced the sizeable challenge of taking on Sheffield Steelers in their own Sheffield was, though, a huge migration of Welsh fans from Cardiff, one that lives long in the memories of those that were there."I remember stepping on the ice for the warm-up and seeing half that arena filled with our fans. I remember thinking this is pretty special," said Martin."That's when you really saw how much it meant to the club, to the fans."Goals from player-coach Andrew Lord and centreman Chris Culligan gave Cardiff a 2-1 victory to lift their first trophy in eight years."Winning that game was awesome, just to see the look on everybody's faces and the joy especially with the season before being a tough one when they hadn't made the play-offs," Martin added."The expectations weren't for us to even be there, let alone win it. It was a really special moment."Over the next four seasons Cardiff Devils experienced a golden period winning the league twice, the 2017 Challenge Cup and two Play-Off hockey in the UK was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Martin went to Norway, playing in front of reduced crowds for Stavanger Oilers though eventually their 2021 season was curtailed before the Elite Hockey Ligaen then joined Graz99ers in Austria who were more than aware of Martin's qualities after he had been a crucial part of Cardiff's two group victories against them in the 2019 Champions Hockey halfway through the season Martin decided it was time to return to Cardiff."I really enjoyed my time in Graz, but I just felt that I wanted to come back to a club where the expectations were to win, and I wanted to be back in that kind of culture."And it just felt like the time to come back home." 'It's been an awesome ride - I never want it to end' Somewhat unexpectedly for Martin, the first two seasons after his return were trophyless for in January 2025 the Devils won their first European title - the IIHF Continental Cup. "That was the third year in a row of us being in that competition and I felt in the years prior we had a good chance to win it but let it slip," Martin said."I think we were just laser focused this year and it was a huge deal not just for us players, all the fans and all the people in the organisation."Following that win the Devils' chase for the league title fell away to finish in fourth place having also lost the Challenge Cup final to Belfast Giants in feels the extra games played competing in the Continental Cup, and the squad being blighted by injuries thoughout the season, caught up with them."We were playing three lines it felt like for months, and that's hard to do when you're playing three games a week, back-to-back games on the weekend and injuries keep piling up," he said."We held on for as long as we could but it just came to the point where the wheels fell off. It was tough to be a part of."We're not the only team that goes through this, but we were hit pretty hard by injuries this year."It was a campaign so nearly polished off with the shine of a second peice of in the final game of the season Cardiff lost the Play-Off final in double over-time to Nottingham - a tumultuous final that will not be forgotten soon by Panthers fans and neutrals who witnessed the for the Martin and his Devils team-mates losing that epic final, where they came back from 3-0 down to force over-time, will simply rankle forever."We were stunned for a few days to be honest, it's still hard to reflect on because we were so close to winning a trophy that I think this group deserved," reflects Martin."I think losing that Play-Off final ignited something in me that I just wanted to sign back to get another chance to win another trophy."I'm very proud of what we've done here over the years, a lot of success, a lot of good times, a lot of hard work, but I feel that we're not done yet."We need to have some more trophies; we need to create some more memories and hopefully we can do that."If you look at where the game has taken me, I feel fortunate, it's been an awesome ride. I never want it to end."
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Cardiff Devils re-sign forward Olischefski
Cardiff Devils have re-signed forward Kohen Olischefski for the 2025-26 27-year-old Canadian scored 18 goals in all competitions after arriving in the Welsh capital last joined Cardiff after one season playing for Dusseldorf in the top flight of German ice hockey, having previously played for Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League (AHL), the top affiliate of the NHL's Buffalo head coach Paul Thompson said: "I'm delighted Kohen has signed another contract with us for the coming season. "Watching him, I like the fact he can play in all forward positions."Olischefski is the first player to commit to another year with the Welsh club since Thompson was appointed to succeed Pete Russell who left the club in Devils had already signed up two players to their roster last month, with Joey Martin returning for a 10th season and last season's top scorer Josh McDonald the first to commit for 2025-26.
BBC News
25-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Martin returns for 10th season with Devils
Forward Joey Martin will return for a 10th season with the Cardiff Devils in 36-year-old was voted as the Devils' players' player of the year and the most valuable player for last season, and the club are staging a testimonial for Martin this first joined the Welsh club in 2014 and after a brief spell away during Covid returned in the 2024-25 season he became the highest scoring import player in Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) history and is considered by many to be the greatest Devil in the Cardiff franchise's history."It's difficult to describe the impact Joey Martin has had on this organisation on and off the ice," said managing director Todd Kelman. "Joey has been our best player over the last decade, he has been a leader on the ice and in the room. He is great with fans, and he is a phenomenal team-mate."He hasn't slowed down over his career. As the league has improved, he has still always been one of the top players. We are very lucky to have had him all these years and I am pleased to have him back for another season."Martin is the second Devils signing of the summer after fellow Canadian Josh MacDonald.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Devils thrash Flyers in response to Glasgow loss
Cardiff Devils bounced back from their Friday-night loss to Glasgow Clan with a thumping 6-0 win over Fife Flyers. Josh MacDonald put the Devils ahead in south Wales before Ben Almquist scored his first Cardiff goal to make it 2-0. Brett Perlini added a third in the middle period, and Cole Sanford scored the Devils' fourth just after the midway point. Joey Martin made it 5-0 to start the third period and Riley Brandt finished off the scoring action with the home side's sixth, as Cardiff made it a happy St David's Day for the Devils. On Friday, Glasgow Clan dented Cardiff Devils' Elite League title challenge with a comfortable win at Braehead Arena. Mitchell Heard, Rylan Schwartz, Cole Ully and Rylan Schwartz all struck before the visitors responded through Joey Martin. There were no scores in the final period as victory for the home side was ensured.
BBC News
15-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Storm complete comeback to extend Devils' winless run
Manchester Storm came from behind to beat Cardiff Devils 5-3 at the Vindico was a third win on the bounce for Storm who are second from bottom in the Elite meanwhile, drop further off the pace of the top three with their losing streak extending to five were five goals in a frenetic opening period with Joey Martin twice finding the net for Devils along with Ryan kept in touch with a Ryan Hughes effort, while Cameron Critchlow scored on the D'Aoust levelled the scores to 3-3 in the second period with all to play for in the it was Storm who emerged winners with Noah Carroll on target before Tyler Hinam found an empty net in the final return to action on Sunday with a trip to Fife Flyers, while Storm are away to Glasgow Clan on Wednesday.
