Martin, Olivier

BORN MAY 12TH 1988 at Greenwood Nova Scotia in Canada, his first competitive season was in 1997-98 when he was age 10. In 1998, he moved to Adelaide with his family on a military exchange program, playing both ice and inline hockey until 2002. The family returned to Canada and lived in Winnipeg where he played AA for the St James Canadiens in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. He moved back to Adelaide in 2004 when he was 15 years-old, and played his first AIHL game for the Adelaide Avalanche against the Canberra Knights.

He went on to play seven seasons with the Adelaide Avalanche, the Adelaide A’s and the Adelaide Adrenaline (2004-05, 2007-11), recording save percentages usually in excess of 88 and as high as 94. He represented both South Australia and New South Wales at numerous National Championships, then Australia in the 2006 National Youth Team in Elektrenai and Kaunas, Lithuania, where he recorded a save percentage of 83.9 and won the Bronze Medal. He joined the Newcastle North Stars in 2006 then left to get a start in Adelaide, returning in 2012 after Matt Ezzy retired from the sport to become a commercial pilot. He won Goodall Cups in 2006 (Newcastle) and 2009 (Adelaide). He had the Best GAA (2.45) in the AIHL in 2013 and a save percentage of 91.5. He sometimes played in the local summer leagues as a player.

In 2012 he represented Australia in the inaugural Trans-Tasman Champions League posting a save percentage of 90.6. In the Division 1 IIHF Worlds in Krynica Poland that year, he was given first shot at replacing Ezzy as Australia's top goalie, but suffered a meniscus tear in his right knee, which limited him to Australia’s first-round 8-4 loss to South Korea. Anthony Kimlin played the rest of the tournament and continued on. Relegated, he returned as back-up for the 2013 Division 2 Worlds, then retired after his third season for the North Stars prompting a furore of response from shocked AIHL fans. He was just 25 years-old and had played a total of 60 minutes in 5 games for Australia over a competition career spanning 15 years. Olivier Martin had relocated to Sydney to practice and become a registered architect.