PHOTO: Garrett James/BCHL
Ethan Martini brings plenty of experience with him as he makes his way to Penticton for his first season with the Vees. The veteran of 143 BCHL games, split between the Trail Smoke Eaters and Powell River Kings, was very happy to find out he would be heading to the Peach City in July, “I couldn’t have been more excited to be a Vee,” Martini said, “Penticton has a winning culture and is the junior hockey mecca of Western Canada so I can’t wait to get this season started.”
The Trail, BC native grew up playing his minor hockey in the West Kootenays, working through the Castlegar Minor Hockey program before heading to Calgary, Alberta and joining the Edge Hockey School for two seasons, “Growing up in Castlegar, it’s a bit of a blue collar vibe there,” mentioned Martini, “It taught me a lot personally that I could carry on with my game and contribute to my blue collar style of play.”
“The highest level of minor hockey in Castlegar was Tier 3 so, in order to move on in my hockey career, I knew Edge would be the best way to do that,” Martini continued, “To be your best, you have the play against the best and that went into my decision to go to Edge. They have fantastic facilities with the workout room and gym tucked right with the school in the rink, it was an awesome experience at Edge.”
Martini had the chance to join his hometown team in Trail for his first season of junior hockey, playing in a total of 114 games with the Smoke Eaters, including his 16-year-old season, “Playing in front of everyone I went to school with and my family was pretty exciting,” Martini recalled, “I’m thankful for the Smoke Eaters for taking a chance on me as a 16-year-old and I’m just super grateful that they have me that opportunity and it put me in a position to be where I am today.”
At the beginning of last season, Martini made the shift to the United States to play in the USHL with the Central Illinois Flying Aces, where he took part in 13 games before moving back to the BCHL and joining the Powell River Kings for the duration of the 2018/19 season, “It was a good season last year, starting in Central Illinois and moving to Powell River,” Martini explained, “I played in the USHL Showcase and a few games after that but thought it would be better to move back to the BCHL and get a bit more ice time and get back to league where I am more comfortable in.”
The BCHL and USHL are known as two of the best developmental leagues in North America for junior players. As for the differences of each league, “The style of play between the two is probably the most different,” Martini said, “Down there, it seems like there is bigger ice surfaces and it’s more of a skill game while in the BCHL, the play is grinded down a bit more while the offence tends to be more on the explosive side.”
Standing at 6’6″ and weighing 180 pounds, Martini brings an intimidating physical presence and has to use that to his advantage in a game that is moving at a quick pace, “As a bigger guy, I definitely have to focus on my footspeed,” Martini said, “To counter that, you have to play physical so you can’t be caught running around in your own zone. Playing a simple, physical game is how I can stop some of the smaller, speedier players in their tracks and be effective.”
The defender has been working hard this offseason in preparation for his first season with the Vees, “I like working out about four times a week,” Martini mentioned, “I’ve been making sure to do a lot of running and hiking this offseason, there’s some really good spots to go back home in Trail and here in Penticton. It’s always important to get some down time too and I like to fish a lot when I’m not at the rink and go on hikes, try to keep things as relaxed as possible.”
Martini got into Penticton about a week ago, having a chance to see the town and what the community has to offer, “I come from a small town so having some more options to eat and shop and seeing a few more cars on the road is nice,” Martini said, “I really like the city, it’s not too big where I’m struggling to get around but I’ve been having a blast here.”
“I have a little bit of nervous energy so I need to make sure I’m not killing myself in the gym or on the ice and dialing it down and getting my cardio workouts right,” Martini continued, “But I’m definitely super excited to get things going and I can’t wait for the season to start.”
Martini and the rest of the Vees are set to hit the ice in August 19th ahead of the 2019/20 season with the first game of the exhibition schedule taking place on Wednesday, August 21st in West Kelowna against the Warriors. Season tickets are on sale now and are available by contacting Laura Carleton at (250) 493-8337 ext. 4.
