Martin makes state finals
Courtesy Theresa Iotonhahere Martin
Skaweriio Martin was new to the Rochester TB 2013 A (ROCO TB) hockey team this year, but he’s ending the year having made great friends.
It’s to the point that he’s almost more disappointed that he won’t be moving up an age group with the rest of his teammates than the fact that they were unable to win in the finals of the New York State Hockey Championships, his mother Theresa Iotonhahere Martin said.
That’s because Skaweriio was playing up an age group this year, having been born in 2014 and playing in a league of players one year older than he is.
“They got so close. It was such a good team that he was with. They were all a brotherhood, and they took him in. He was just one of them, even though he was younger,” said Theresa.
Skaweriio only played one of the five games in the state championships tournament, but his presence on the bench was extremely valuable, said ROCO TB coach Dave Oakes.
“He would be running the defense line changes in between pumping the boys up on the bench, he would call our players over to give them scouting on where to shoot on the other team’s goalies, and was always in a positive mindset,” said Oakes.
“His play during the year was one of the reasons why we got into the state tournament and led to our success this year.”
Skaweriio reminded Oakes of a “duck on water,” meaning calm, cool, and collected.
“We can’t see what is going on inside of his mind, but he presents it as ready to go to battle at all times,” said Oakes.
ROCO TB finished second overall in qualifying games with an 8-1-3 record, and had two of the other top three ranked teams in their round-robin group: the eventual state champion St. Lawrence Steel and the Long Island Rebels.
They went 2-1 during the round robin, defeating the Rebels 2-0 and Skaneateles Youth 7-1, while losing 13-3 to the Steel – Skaweriio, battling an ear infection, still played that entire game.
They beat Cazenovia Park, the team that finished above them in the qualifying games, 3-1 in the semifinals.
“To say winning the semifinals game over them felt amazing would be an understatement,” said Oakes.
Even though they lost to the Steel in the finals by a score of 9-0, everyone was proud to have made it that far in the first place, when they were not necessarily the favourites to do so at the beginning of the season, with a lot of new players and a few other underagers joining Skaweriio.
“We knew this group of boys could make the state tournament and possibly make a deep run and to see them accomplish that was great,” said Oakes.
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“We were supposed to be that team that never made it,” said Theresa.
“I have to give the St. Lawrence Steel all the credit for making it this far and winning it all. They were flawless.”
Skaweriio will move to another association next season, playing Peewee hockey in Amherst, Massachusetts, where he will get a chance to play in the internationally known Quebec City Peewee tournament next year.
