Blackhawks' Martinsen knows you need to work hard to succeed in NHL
Many professional athletes know that rolling with the punches comes with the territory.
But what Blackhawks forward Andreas Martinsen went through last year with his girlfriend and 1-year-old baby girl is almost impossible to believe.
On Oct. 2, 2017, Martinsen found out he didn't make Montreal's final roster cuts and that he was placed on waivers. No other NHL team made a claim, so the next day, the Canadiens assigned him to their AHL team in Quebec, Canada.
In no time at all, the Martinsens had their new home ready to go - the beds were made, the closets and cabinets were full, the fridge was stocked and the baby's crib assembled.
Incredibly - after just one practice with the Quebec Citadelles - Martinsen's phone rang and he was hit with the puck-to-the-forehead news that the Chicago Blackhawks just acquired him in a trade.
"Pretty much as soon we're done unpacking, we're going to Chicago," said Martinsen, who was acquired for Kyle Baun and assigned to the Rockford IceHogs. "As soon as you get that message, it's tough and disappointing obviously. But for me it was just another little bump. ...
"You've just got to work hard and get back (to the NHL)."
'Never complained'
Because of visa issues, it took Martinsen two weeks before he could move to Rockford. He scored just 1 goal in his first 17 games with the IceHogs as then-coach Jeremy Colliton tried to figure out what kind of role this 6-foot-3, 229-pound forward should play.
"(I thought) he could maybe help us as a depth guy," Colliton said. "So I kind of played him further down the lineup at the beginning of the year. He never said anything, never complained.
"He was one of our best players night in, night out."
Even after that slow start, Martinsen finished with 12 goals in 64 regular-season games and added 2 more during Rockford's run to the Western Conference finals in the Calder Cup playoffs. He also played nine games for the Hawks from March 20-April 7, scoring his lone goal in a 4-3 victory at St. Louis on April 4.
For someone who had spent the previous two campaigns almost exclusively in the NHL, it wasn't the easiest of seasons.
But, as Colliton said, Martinsen isn't a glass-half-empty kind of guy.
"I had lost confidence in my game," said Martinsen, who appeared in 119 games with Colorado and Montreal from 2015-17. "I got back to that last year with playing more minutes in Rockford. We had a good team and a good group, and we had a lot of fun.
"I also got to get up here and show myself for a couple games. … I just look at it as a learning experience. I improved and got better as a player."
Captain crunch
Martinsen's hard-nosed style is in short supply on the Hawks and is one of the biggest reasons he made the team out of camp.
"I've always loved the physical part of the game," said Martinsen, who was an avid soccer player growing up in Norway. "That was the thing I missed when I played soccer because I would get yellow cards and red cards all the time.
"Now I'm finally playing a sport where if I see a guy who has the puck, I can just run him over and take it from him."
A perfect example of how Martinsen can affect a game came with 6:51 remaining in the third period of a 1-0 victory over St. Louis on Nov. 14.
A split second after the Blues' Carl Gunnersson kept the puck in his offensive zone, Martinsen poked the puck away and delivered a bone-crunching hit that sent the 6-foot-2, 198-pound defenseman bouncing off the side boards directly in front of the Hawks' bench.
The crowd roaring its approval, everyone on that bench arose to watch Luke Johnson and Chris Kunitz race the other way on a 2-on-1 break. The scoring chance fizzled, but the Hawks controlled play for the next 45 seconds and went on to beat their division rivals.
Martinsen saw 11½ minutes of ice time that night and finished with a whopping 7 hits.
"We love when guys like him and Haydes (John Hayden) go out there and can bring that energy," said Patrick Kane. "Make it tough on their defensemen and their forwards. … I think it's a great thing for us."
Said Martinsen: "When Patrick Kane comes up and tells you, 'Hey, that was a (heck) of a hit. You got us going.' - obviously coming from him, that means a lot."
Martinsen, who makes the league minimum $650,000 and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, has carved out a consistent role on the Hawks' fourth line. He did not play at Tampa Bay on Friday, but doled out 35 hits while averaging about nine minutes in the previous nine contests.
Considering he has just 8 goals in 143 NHL games, it's no secret that Martinsen, his wife and two young girls may be on the move once again next season.
But until then, expect this late-blooming Norweigen to give everything he's got every night he's on the ice.
"Feel I'm getting better and better each game," Martinsen said. "Obviously I know Jeremy better from last year and he knows me. He knows exactly what I can bring.
"He knows I will always bring my hardest work."
And that's all Hawks fans can ask for.
By the numbers
Andreas Martinsen's career stats
Season, team, league GP G A Pts.
2010-11, Lillehammer, N'way 49 18 30 48
2011-12, Lillehammer, N'way 56 20 28 48
2012-13, Dusseldorfer EG, DEL 52 6 16 22
2013-14, Dusseldorfer EG, DEL 42 9 8 17
2014-15, Dusseldorfer EG, DEL 62 19 27 46
2015-16, Colorado, NHL 55 4 7 11
2015-16, San Antonio, AHL 10 1 1 2
2016-17, Colorado, NHL 55 3 4 7
2016-17, Montreal, NHL 9 0 0 0
2017-18, Blackhawks, NHL 9 1 0 0
2017-18, Rockford, AHL 77 14 19 33
2018-19, Blackhawks, NHL 15 0 1 1