“I always said I was never going to be on TV, because I didn’t want to do that, but here I am.”
Wednesday morning, the Vegas Golden Knights announced that recently-retired defenseman Alec Martinez would join their broadcast team for select games this upcoming season. So following an optional morning skate, the three-time Stanley Cup Champion returned to City National Arena to once again field questions from the media.
Martinez played 862 NHL games across his 16-year career. He began his career in Los Angeles, where he played 597 games with the Kings and won two Stanley Cups. In 2020, the Golden Knights traded for Martinez; he went on to play 221 games and win another Stanley Cup. He finished his career with the Chicago Blackhawks before announcing his retirement from the NHL in April.
“The transition is hard,” Martinez admitted. “[Hockey] is the biggest thing in your life– your entire life, for the most part. It’s the driver of everything that you do. And it’s all of a sudden not there anymore. This is an opportunity where I can kind of stay involved in the game and scratch that itch while I try to figure out what’s next in life.”
Martinez’s television career begins Wednesday night when the Golden Knights take on the Colorado Avalanche. Broadcasting wasn’t originally his idea, but it’s been in the works for over a year now.
“[Daren Millard] is the one who put it in my ear, and I’m willing to try anything, so here we are. Not anything,” Martinez quickly amended, “Because there are certain things– like, I’m never going to coach. I’ll stare directly into the camera and say this. I will never coach at a collegiate or professional level.”
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Martinez and Millard formed a relationship while the former was still with the Golden Knights. When Martinez was injured, Millard, a goaltender, would don his pads and skate with him.
“Oftentimes, I was skating and the team was out of town, so Daren would help me boost my confidence. Some days more than others,” Martinez quipped. “I talked with Daren about this, even when I was still here. We went to lunch after my last season here, and he threw out the idea of this being something that we could do. And then I ended up playing another year.
“This next year, I just want to be a dad and get my health back, but this is an opportunity to do something fun,” Martinez continued. “I get to come to Vegas, see a couple of my buddies, watch some hockey, talk some hockey, and have some fun… I guess we’ll find out soon enough whether I’m any good at it– I hope I am, but I might be terrible.”
Although Martinez misses hockey, he’s thankful for the opportunity to spend more time with his family. But retirement hasn’t changed him one bit– he’s still quick to chirp his old Golden Knights teammates.
“I’m just trying to enjoy retired life, not having to block shots anymore,” Martinez said. “Enjoy my kids, my wife, my family… There are definitely a lot more diapers. I’d have to change [Zach Whitecloud] or [Shea Theodore’s] every once in a while on the back end, but definitely not nearly as much as my two kids now. And it’s not just them; there were a few others. I’m pretty sure [Alex Pietrangelo] had them here and there, but his were adult-sized because he’s old.”
Martinez is excited for the broadcasting opportunity, but he’s taking things one step at a time.
“We’ll see how it goes. Like I said, if I’m terrible at it, tonight might be a one-and-done,” Martinez joked. “I don’t know, they might say ‘We don’t want you back.’ But, I don’t know. I would imagine somewhere around a dozen or so, here and there… I’m not committing to 65 games.”
As a seasoned NHL player and Stanley Cup Champion, Martinez brings a new perspective to the broadcast team. He also brings five years of memories with the Golden Knights and familiarity with most of the current players.
“Some of my best friends are still on the team, so it’s pretty easy to talk about them,” said Martinez on what he’ll bring to the broadcast team. “I’ll always be professional about it, but I’ll try to show a little bit of personality. And I think that I have a few perspectives and benefits that I can bring to [the broadcast team]. I obviously know some of these guys on a personal level. I mean, I talk to a lot of these guys all the time, still. I’ll maintain a professional nature, but I’ll throw a few jabs here and there at some guys.
“But I’ll also be positive, probably a homer. I mean, I’m not going to rip on anybody. Anything that I could say that they’re doing wrong, you probably have a hundred clips of me doing that exact wrong thing throughout my career. People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” Martinez finished.