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For any freshman athlete, patience is an important virtue. For example, take Martin Ouellette.
The goalie is one of two true freshmen on the men’s hockey team, and his chances have been few and far between. The goalie played his first game in a 3-3 tie against the University of Connecticut Oct. 9, then sat until his next game against Providence College Dec. 4.
Not one to squander his chances, Ouellette shut out the Friars en route to a 5-0 victory, earning Hockey East Rookie of the Week honors.
“I hadn’t played for two months, just got back in,” Ouellette said. “The guys made my job easy and helped my confidence.”
Ouellette used those two months to hone his skills in practice against the potent Black Bears offense and gain more comfort in the college crease.
“I worked on being calmer and more patient, getting adjusted to playing some good players in practice,” he said.
Ouellette gained interest in hockey at a young age in Canada, starting out as a forward and switching to goalie at age 7.
“I started playing hockey at 4 years old,” Ouellette said. “I was a forward my first three years. My older brother Luc was a goalie, so I decided to follow him and be one, too. He was my role model.”
The switch to net-minder seems to be a successful one, as Ouellette looks not only like a great piece to the future of UMaine hockey, but a contributor right now.
When asked about his youth, Ouellette understood the ups and downs of being a freshman on an experienced team.
“Being a freshman isn’t difficult, but it is being a freshman,” Ouellette said with a smirk.
The jump in athleticism from the high school to the college level can be difficult — something Ouellette is learning hands on.
“The speed, everything is faster, shots are harder, guys are faster and smarter,” he said. “It’s just an adjustment for me.”
Appearing in three games so far, Ouellette has won one, lost one and tied one, the loss coming in the heart-breaking overtime loss to the University of New Hampshire. Ouellette has stopped more than 90 percent of the shots sent his way.
When asked why he ended up at the University of Maine, Ouellette pointed to the rich hockey tradition the university encompasses.
“The history of the program, always been winning, the two national championships,” Ouellette said of UMaine hockey. “I visited once in March and called to commit the next weekend.”
In fact, Ouellette committed to the school without even attending a UMaine hockey game.
“The first hockey game I saw was the exhibition against Acadia earlier this season,” Ouellette said.
It’s clear the future is bright for this goalie, and that’s a good sign for the future of the program as well.
Although Ouellette never saw a game before suiting up for one himself, there will be plenty of people coming to watch him in years to come.
Bangor Daily News