One second Matt Martin was joking about his feelings, saying his spouse can be blissful to listen to him say he was feeling one thing forward of what’s presumed to be his final house recreation with the Islanders.
The subsequent, all of the emotion was pouring out of him directly, a wave that’s been constructing all season crashing like a tsunami.
Martin took an extended pause. He put his head down. His lip quivered.
“I’ve been so proud to wear this jersey and be a part of this team and community,” he stated.
He buried his face in his shirt.
“Obviously don’t know what the future holds,” he stated. “Through the good and the bad, the heartbreaks and all of it, it’s always been a pleasure to be a part of this team and wear this uniform. Excited to get out and play tonight and go from there.”
This was all hours earlier than the sport itself, when Martin will put on an ‘A’ — one way or the other the primary time he’s ever completed so in a regular-season recreation — and shall be within the beginning lineup towards the Capitals, the Islanders giving him some well-deserved flowers.
Exterior of Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck, who maintain co-equal standing right here, nobody embodied the period of Islanders hockey that’s at the moment coming to a detailed like Matt Martin.
There was a purpose that trio began nearly each recreation underneath Barry Trotz. They set a tone, created the id. They have been hardworking, blue-collar, bodily and grinding. Their persona was good for Lengthy Island and excellent for the Islanders.
Martin has repeatedly declined to deal with his future, so it’s technically attainable he tries to offer it one other go subsequent season, with 14 video games left to hit 1,000 for his profession.
Nevertheless it was already surprising that he got here again this yr, taking a tryout contract, parlaying it right into a roster spot early within the season after accidents hit and sticking round to play 30 video games and provides assist wherever he may.
In contrast to a yr in the past, the air of finality round Martin extends to the participant and the group.
“He’s been a really good friend and teammate for a long time,” captain Anders Lee stated. “I’ve had the pleasure to be within the room with him and undergo loads with him on the ice and within the room. Only a particular individual that I believe has had one hell of a profession.
“Deserves all the recognition and honors moving forward and being recognized as one of the great Islanders for what he’s done for this team and organization.”
Fittingly, Martin was nominated Tuesday because the Islanders’ candidate for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, given to the participant “who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution to his community.”
Martin runs an annual hockey camp in the summertime on the Islanders’ apply facility, and his basis contributes to a number of causes together with the combat towards cystic fibrosis.
“I think the impact he’s made in the community, the way he’s handled himself and represented being an Islander, it doesn’t get any more true than Marty,” Lee, final yr’s Clancy winner, stated.
It’s been a tough yr for the Islanders, watching Brock Nelson get traded in March and lacking the playoffs for the primary time since 2022.
The core that bought them two memorable convention last runs is all however formally completed now, with Martin more likely to be a part of Nelson, Cal Clutterbuck and Josh Bailey as current departures.
“Separate times, but over the course of a year and a half, stuff like that, you feel it,” Lee stated. “Each time one of those guys left, it felt like a piece of who we were was taking their next steps.”
This one is as emotional as any.
“This is a special place,” Martin stated.
