With 7:25 remaining in the opening period against the Dubuque Fighting Saints on Jan. 31, Green Bay forward Cruz Martin gathered the puck along the left boards in the offensive zone with the Gamblers trailing 1-0 at the Resch Center on Teddy Bear Toss Night.
Martin kept his eyes up as he skated past one defender and drove straight to the net, flipping the puck over the left blocker of Dubuque goaltender Vojtech Hambalek and over the goal line for his fourth score of the season as thousands of teddy bears hit the ice.
For Martin, who has been sitting on the fourth line all season, his teddy bear toss goal in front of over 7,000 fans at the Resch Center has been the biggest of his career with the Gamblers.
Martin has had to battle for a spot in the lineup all season and said he’s been waiting for an opportunity to show what he’s got.
“I think earlier in the year, I really got down on myself when I got scratched [from the lineup],” he said. “Everybody was telling me, ‘You’re a young guy, like that’s just kind of how it goes.’ When I’m sitting in the stands just kind of watching the game, I make sure to be thinking about what I would do differently so I can come out the next night flying around the ice.”
Martin grew up in St. Louis and had a unique path to the USHL. His dad never played hockey growing up but always enjoyed watching the hometown NHL club.
Martin, whose dad first took him to the rink when he was 3 years old, said he discovered his love for hockey at an early age.
“One thing most people don’t know about me is that I used to play baseball, like competitive baseball, until I was 13,” he said. “It just kind of felt like every time I was at baseball, I was like, ‘man, I wish I was playing hockey right now.’ So, I kind of knew then that this is what I wanted to pursue.”
Martin played for both the St. Louis Blues AAA and CarShield AAA clubs before playing for Lindbergh High School, where he tallied 15 goals and 17 assists in the 2022-23 campaign.
Martin said he really enjoyed his time playing AAA hockey until he was drafted by the Springfield Jr. Blues in the 2024 NAHL Entry Draft.
“I had a lot of fun playing in high school,” he said. “Missouri high school hockey’s not great but playing AAA in St. Louis was great. I played for the Triple-A Blues for a long time, and it’s a really great organization.”
Martin played 40 games for Springfield, registering eight goals and 14 assists before getting called up to Green Bay during the 2024-25 season. He played 15 games for the Gamblers last year, scoring a goal and dishing out three assists to help Green Bay reach the quarterfinals of the Clark Cup.
Martin said that NAHL helped him with his development and made the transition to the USHL a little easier.
“I think just playing with the bigger guys and the change in style of game from AAA is a lot different, so I think that really helped me out,” he said. “I was super excited [when I got called up to Green Bay]. It was always a dream to play in the USHL when I was younger. I was actually in Alaska when I got the call, so I was pretty hyped up.”
With a partial season under his belt, Martin has totaled 11 points off four goals and seven assists in 35 games to help the Gamblers maintain the second-best record in the USHL at 26-11-3-1.
The 18-year-old Martin, who stands at 5-foot-10 and models his game after Vancouver Canucks winger Conor Garland, said he’s having a really good time in his second year with the team.
“We’ve got a good squad this year,” he said. “I think I’ve just kind of been developing as a player and have been learning how to use my abilities better. [I’ve been working] on using my speed a little bit better and some puck protection stuff.”
Martin will have another opportunity to showcase his improvement in his sophomore season in the league when the Gamblers travel to Sioux Falls to take on the Stampede on Thursday at 7:05 p.m.
