Dave Leaderhouse |
Having solid leadership can be a huge factor in a team’s success and it looks like the Flin Flon Bombers have that aspect of their game well taken care of.
Mason Martin is not only the team’s captain, but he has also become a big contributor to the league’s leading offence as the 20-year-old defenceman has more than doubled his previous best totals with 30 points in 39 games this year.
Martin, a 6-foot-0, 200-pound Winnipeg product, had just one goal and 13 assists in playing all 58 games a year ago, but so far this season he has nine goals and 21 helpers with 22 of his points coming on the Bombers vaunted power play. He also has an assist on a short-handed effort and one his goals was a game-winning marker showing that he is counted on in all situations.
Martin, who recently competed in the annual Sask/Man Showcase where he had one assist in a pair of contests, has played in 146 games with the Bombers after beginning his junior career with a six-game stint with the Kindersley Klippers as a 17-year-old.
Prior to making the move to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Martin spent two seasons with the Winnipeg Thrashers of the Manitoba Midget AAA Hockey League. There, too, he showed his durability and leadership as he missed just one regular-season game during that span and was the team’s captain in his final season with the club. In 87 games with the Thrashers, Martin accumulated 41 points with six of those being goals.
Martin’s first season of midget hockey was with a city team in Winnipeg and while he had 26 points in 32 games with that squad, he also was a member of Team Manitoba that captured the bronze medal at the Canada Winter Games.
The Bombers are in a position to have a successful finish to the regular season and while they might be too far behind to catch the front-running Battlefords North Stars for first place overall, they certainly can put themselves in a spot to seek a deep playoff run. With the leadership and skills being shown by Martin, the Bombers could put an end to a championship drought that hasn’t seen a Flin Flon team claim a title since 1993.
