Craig Martin Autographed Card

In the 1990s, the Québec junior league (LHJMQ) produced, essentially, three types of players: top-tier goalies (such as Martin Brodeur, Stéphane Fiset, Jocelyn Thibault, Jean-Sébastien Giguère, and Roberto Luongo), slick forwards (like Daniel Brière, Vincent Lecavalier, Simon Gagné, Éric Dazé and Brad Richards), and most of the NHL's tough guys/goons (among them Donald Brashear, Jason Doig, Georges Laraque, Peter Worrell, Mario Roberge, Enrico Ciccone, Gino Odjick, and André Roy).

Another one was Amherst, Nova Scotia's Craig Martin, who spent most of his time with the Hull Olympiques, and 35 games with the St. Hyacinthe Laser. In 221 Junior games, he managed to tally 127 points but, more impressively, he gathered 953 penalty minutes. That's pretty much a fighting major per game.

Drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in 1990 (98th in total, six spots behind Ciccone), he ended up playing 20 games for them in 1994-95 after a few seasons of AHL and IHL play. He also played one game for the Florida Panthers... with a fighting major to show for it.

When he retired in 2006, he had played (in addition to the two aforementioned NHL teams) for 4 AHL teams, 4 IHL teams, 2 WCHL teams, the Berlin Capitals in Germany, the Adirondack IceHawks of the UHL, and two teams of the Québec semi-pro league formerly knows as the LHSPQ, now the LNAH.

It was during his time with the Laval Chiefs late in his career that I managed to get this card signed (in blue sharpie), from Classic's 1993-94 Pro Prospects set (card #78), showing him in the white (home) uniform of the Adirondack Red Wings.