Martins Leading Freshman Charge

After dropping a convincing 3-2 decision to the Harvard men's hockey team Friday night, St. Lawrence Coach Joe Marsh struggled to explainhis team's lackluster performance.

Noticably livid, Marsh mumbled about the rink, the fans, the Crimson's work ethic, Harvard's recruiting skill.

Everything went wrong for the Saints, Marsh suggested. And everything went right for Harvard. Could you be more specific, Joe?

"Yeh. That guy Martins."

Marsh, of course, was referring to freshman forward Steve Martins, whose five-point weekend was the highlight of the Crimson's spectacular home stand against St. Lawrence and Clarkson.

In tough moments throughout the weekend, Coach Ronn Tomassoni looked to Martins to deliver--whether leading the power-play unit (on which the freshman collected two assists and one goal), or taking the face-off (which he won) in the Harvard defensive zone with five seconds left in overtime against Clarkson.

"Steve's an outstanding hockey player. I've been going to him not just this weekend, but all year long," Tomassoni said.

Sure. But it was only this weekend that Martins (now the Crimson's leading scorer with seven goals and 10 assists) truly demonstrated he can lead the team on the ice.

The undersized freshman forward from Gatineau, Quebec, quite simply did it all against the Saints and Golden Knights, serving--among other roles--as the Crimson's premier play-maker, point-scorer and penalty killer.

Just Like Pete

Martins's skill with the puck is reminiscent of another little guy who made it big in Harvard hockey: 1991 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year Peter Ciavaglia '91.

Just like Ciavaglia, Martins is blessed with fleet feet and impeccable stick skills.

The 5-ft., 9-in., 175-Ib. forward can weave in and out of opposing players even in the most crowded situations. And his excellent rink vision lets him spot opportunities and exploit them.

Perhaps Martins's most impressive display came during the first period of the Clarkson game. Positioned at the top of the right faceoff circle, he danced, faked and maneuvered himself into an opening. He quickly unleashed a blistering shot that tipped off Clarkson goalie Chris Rogles's glove and into the net at 7:29.

Martins also anchors Harvard's most talented unit: its penalty-killing squad. With his speed and aggressiveness, Martins forechecks, pursues the puck and strips opponents as well as anyone on the team.

Behind him, Harvard kept St. Lawrence's potent power play unit (fourth-ranked nationally) silent on six chances.

All the freshmen have been filling the big shoes left for them at the beginning of the season, he said, and they'll continue to do so. "We just play each game and get better," Martins said.

Of course, Martins--as with the other freshmen--has things to work on. In particular, he might try to figure out why every Harvard opponent seems to loathe him (he's repeatedly in the middle of post-whistle scuffles.)

And he'll have to discover why his slapshot from the left side always flies into the stands (twice against Clarkson). Then again, if Martins has any more weekends like this one, he can hit as many fans as he wants.