RoughRiders All-Decade Team: Alec Martinez

Just call him Mr. Unlucky.

Alec Martinez had a terrific training camp with the Los Angeles Kings, surprising some people by making the NHL club for the start of the 2009-10 regular season. He played 16 minutes on defense in the Kings' season opener in early October against Phoenix.

But the next practice was disastrous.

“After practice, you do some extra work with one of the assistant coaches,” Martinez said. “So I was working on retrieving pucks in the corner. I was going back for one, lost an edge and went feet first into the boards. It was kind of embarrassing. All the boys were laughing at me. I wasn't laughing.”

Martinez was diagnosed with a high ankle sprain and went on injured reserve. He missed nearly two months, then was shipped to the minor leagues when he finally got healthy enough to skate again.

He got a brief recall to L.A. in January, playing three games, but is now back with the AHL's Manchester Monarchs. Ah, what might have been.

“Pretty frustrating,” Martinez said. “But it's part of the game. That stuff happens. You've got to adapt to it.”

Martinez is one of three players from the RoughRiders' 2004-05 championship team to make it to the NHL. A teammate with the Kings and Monarchs was 2004-05 teammate Teddy Purcell, who was traded last week to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The two were roommates last season in Manchester.

“I know it sounds cliche, but I remember the fans in Cedar Rapids,” Martinez said. “I always thought it was a great facility, a great group of guys. That was the main reason we won it. It was amazing the chemistry we had.”

Two of Martinez's teammates in Manchester are goalie Jeff Zatkoff and center Corey Elkins, who played for Sioux City in 2004-05, the team Cedar Rapids beat in a terrific five-game championship series. The three still talk fondly about their junior days. That's even though they're looking forward to more NHL days.

“One of the things about the NHL is the mental aspect of it,” Martinez said. “It's about bringing your ‘A' game night in and night out.”