Oct. 5, 2006

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - It doesn't figure that eight years of figure skating would produce a hard-hitting defenseman and a fifth round National Hockey League draft pick, but University of Massachusetts freshman Martin Nolet credits his early years of fancy routines for his skating success.

Nolet, who hails from Quebec City and started figure skating at age 4, is one of three new Minutemen defensemen who will be counted on to try and make up for the loss of graduated and now pro Marvin Degon.

"The figure skating improved my skating skills," said Nolet while cruising the Mullins Center practice rink as part of the annual preseason skate for season ticket holders and Pond Club (booster) members last Sunday. "I didn't make any competitions, and later I did both (figure skating and hockey). I did jumps and stuff. My backward skating is pretty good."

And that's one of the reasons why one of his coaches back home decided to convert him from a forward to a defenseman. About three years ago, former NHL standout Sylvain Lefebvre shifted Nolet's position. And Lefebvre knows something about playing inside the blueline after a career of nearly 1,000 NHL games, which included stops with the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche and New York Rangers.

"I was more of a grinder at forward, and my offensive skills were limited," Nolet said. "I'm a big player, I like to hit."

Nolet, no relation to the former NHL all-star Simon Nolet, is listed at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds. Last year, he played for the Champlain College Cougars of Sherbrooke, Quebec, a level of play he describes as similar to that of prep school in the United States.

"It was slower than most leagues, so I have to adjust to the speed here, and work on playing against the forwards one on one," he said.

Last season, Nolet was one of four major winners of awards given in the name of legendary Guy Lafleur. Nolet captured the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League Guy Lafleur Award of Merit for his combination of success on the ice and in the classroom.

A Health-Sciences student at Champlain, Nolet maintained an 87 percent academic average. He received a $1,000 scholarship for the award, and got to pose in a photo with Lafleur and the other award winners. Nolet is a pre-med major at UMass. Nolet was chosen in the fifth round of the 2006 NHL amateur draft by the Los Angeles Kings, making him the second Minuteman picked by the Kings (goaltender Jon Quick is the other).

In the best two years of the program, the Minutemen gained Hockey East respect after having Thomas Pock drop back from forward to defense. But UMass coach Toot Cahoon said that Nolet's switch was not the reason he was recruited.

"We liked him for what he was," said Cahoon, who predicts Nolet's learning curve will be a brief one before he is able to make a contribution.

Mario Nolet, Martin's father, is a policeman who is working in Haiti. He will be able to make it to Martin's regular season and home opener, Oct. 13 against Sacred Heart. Mario was an excellent player in his own right, but had to give up the game because of a death in the family. Martin's uncle, Gervais, was also a solid player, once competing and beating Wayne Gretzky's team in a national pee-wee tournament.

Martin will get his first collegiate game action when the Minutemen face New Brunswick in an exhibition game at 7 tonight at the Mullins Practice Rink. It will be a chance for UMass fans to get a first glimpse at his skating skills. And while it would be unfair to tab him as another Degon, Cahoon reminds that Degon did his share of figure skating too.