News Article: Reader, puzzle-solver..., This Islanders banger is more than bloody knuckles

[The Underboss]

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/r...slanders-banger-is-more-than-bloody-knuckles/

To watch Matt Martin play hockey is to watch a human bumper car.

Now in his fifth season with the New York Islanders, Martin, 25, has earned a reputation as an intense, blue-collar left winger who throws as many punches (447 penalty minutes in 280 games prior to this season) as he does bodychecks (he’s led the NHL in hits three times). But when he’s not playing, he is anything but high-strung. You’re more likely to find him reading or working on a crossword puzzle than trying to knock someone into next week.

“Away from the ice, I’m never stressed about anything,†Martin said. “I try and take it all in stride.â€

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[scott99]

How could you not like MM ? Big time hitter, our enforcer, and has scored 6 goals. Best season for MM ever.

 

[Disgraced Cosmonaut]

There are the fancy stats guys who don't see any value in him. I should preface this with... I'm often confused with a stat guy myself because I value the fancy. But I believe the game today is appropriately valuing the guy who drives play with control and, yet, there's still room on the bottom three (actually bottom 2, to be technical) for guys like MM. In '15, you still absolutely need a man to play old school hockey. The day that there are severe penalties (long suspensions) for merely fighting, is the day that MM and his ilk are done. Until then, to go without someone capable of handling not only his business, but the business of all of his teammates - if necessary - while playing a disruptive role from either the bottom pair or the checking line wing, is foolishness.

(None of this is to say that MM is a fighter, just that it's an element that no one else in the top 16 brings.)

 

[BarBeauWahlDobLok]

What does Matt Martin bring to an NHL team?


... exactly what's needed for the playoffs!

 

[A Pointed Stick]

There are the fancy stats guys who don't see any value in him. I should preface this with... I'm often confused with a stat guy myself because I value the fancy. But I believe the game today is appropriately valuing the guy who drives play with control and, yet, there's still room on the bottom three (actually bottom 2, to be technical) for guys like MM. In '15, you still absolutely need a man to play old school hockey. The day that there are severe penalties (long suspensions) for merely fighting, is the day that MM and his ilk are done. Until then, to go without someone capable of handling not only his business, but the business of all of his teammates - if necessary - while playing a disruptive role from either the bottom pair or the checking line wing, is foolishness.

(None of this is to say that MM is a fighter, just that it's an element that no one else in the top 16 brings.)

And look where Chicago commonly puts Bickell.

Bickell - Richards - Kane

How is Bickell any better than Martin? I've seen plenty of both. BB is 8-8-16 for the year on a line with Richards and Kane. Put MM there in place of Bickell and he would have better stats, if of course the only thing in the world that mattered was stats.

 

[Disgraced Cosmonaut]

And look where Chicago commonly puts Bickell.

Bickell - Richards - Kane

How is Bickell any better than Martin? I've seen plenty of both. BB is 8-8-16 for the year on a line with Richards and Kane. Put MM there in place of Bickell and he would have better stats, if of course the only thing in the world that mattered was stats.

Chief is maybe the only person in Isles history who couldn't produce alongside JT.
(And before someone gets to smartalecking, of course, I know he was a dman.)