Catching Up With Matt Martin

Matt Martin, who has embraced living on Long Island year round, sat in his backyard basking in the warmth of the sunshine as he shared insight into his life during the NHL's suspension. Signs of spring weather set the ambience; as a soft breeze rustled against the leaves and birds piped a distant chorus to create a tranquil sense of peace during these uncertain times.

"It's been crazy, but at the same time you try to make the most of it," Martin said. "Days like this, where it's 50-60 degrees outside and you can be outside for most of the day, are great. You can get your workout done outside, sit in the sun, go take the dogs for a walk and just enjoy yourself a bit. I've been spending a lot of time with my wife, Sydney, which normally I wouldn't have this amount of time to do. I actually put together a stroller today."

It's been a month without hockey, as the NHL implemented an indefinite suspension due to the COVID-19 outbreak. With ample time spent at home, Martin is ensuring he keeps his mind and body sharp. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound winger has embraced the versatility of the Peloton bike and its corresponding app, which was introduced to him by his in-laws. Martin has logged on for daily workouts on the bike itself, or using the app for guided bodyweight and yoga sessions.
To make workouts more exciting and emulate the camaraderie and competition with his teammates, Martin, Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck take virtual Peloton classes together to amplify the intensity of each workout session.
"Casey, Clutter and I have hopped on the Peloton a couple of times here to try and up the compete level," Martin said. "We're all super competitive, especially with each other. It helps you to get more out of it than if you were to just ride by yourself. Casey, Clutter and I hopping on the Peloton is something that simple that keeps that motor going."
The season presented a slew of trials and tribulations for the trio, who the Islanders rely heavily on to set the tone and to throttle opposing teams' top lines. Martin, Cizikas and Clutterbuck all suffered significant injuries throughout the season, which limited them to a total of 19 games together, compared to their 57 contests played last year.
Martin, who stayed the healthiest of the three this season, missed nine games from Oct. 25 through Nov. 21 after sustaining a lower-body injury against Ottawa. The winger registered eight points (5G, 3A) through 55 games and led the team with 242 hits, good for fifth-most in the NHL.
Both Clutterbuck and Cizikas' most recent injuries were freak accidents as a result of errant skate blades. Clutterbuck missed over two months months after having wrist injury on Dec. 18, but suited up for three games in March against Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver. Cizikas was recovering from a skate blade that struck his quad against Philadelphia on Feb. 11 that also required surgery.

"It was under 20 games that we actually played together," Martin said. "We're used to being that Identity Line and playing against other teams' top lines. We've been pretty effective in doing that. Without Casey and Clutter, you've got guys getting called up and guys getting moved around. It makes it harder to find that cohesion. But through all of this, you can look at some positives, right? If this all ends and we get back to playing, both of those guys are going to be healthy here. Hopefully, we can get back out there to doing what we do best."
Aside from logging on for a daily workout, Martin has stayed in touch with his other close pals on the team including Josh Bailey and Anders Lee via FaceTime. The inseparable group and their wives are practicing social distancing, but are staying connected over Zoom calls a couple of times a week and where they chat and play poker.
Martin is also keeping an eye back on his hometown of Windsor, Ontario, where his mother, brother and sister still reside. With New York becoming one of the biggest hotspots of COVID-19 in the United States, Martin witnessed the severity of the outbreak and relayed the importance of social distancing to help his family prepare.
"My mom was still working at the time, she works taxes at this time of the year," Martin said. "I was trying to get her to not go to work. They had no confirmed cases at the time in my hometown of Windsor, but that doesn't mean a whole lot when you hear about so many people that have had it and had symptoms. Canada obviously has it now and is on a similar lockdown as us, but with it being more centralized and bigger here in New York, I was able to keep them in the loop and get my family ahead of it, they're all on lockdown now."

In the interim, as the NHL 2019-20 season remains suspended, Martin is staying regimented, keeping a positive mindset and remaining hopeful that hockey will return sooner than later.
"If we get back to playing here you can either use this [break] as an excuse or you can use it as an advantage," Martin said. "We have guys getting healthy and we can all recoup mentally and physically. Mentally, you try to keep an edge. It's no different than during the season, you've got to worry about controlling what you can control. I think we all feel like the light is at the end of the tunnel a bit."