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| Martin Nolet will chat on Sept. 25 at 10 AM |
With hockey season just a week away, Martin Nolet will drop by the Media Relations office to chat with fans about the 2009-10 Mass Attack. Nolet will be an assistant captain this year and is one of the top returning defensive players in Hockey East. Feel free to submit your questions anytime and Martin will answer them on Friday starting at 10 AM.
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Martin Nolet: Good morning Umass fans! I'm Martin Nolet, defenseman for umass. Season starts next week with an exhibition game on Saturday the 3rd. I'll be answering your questions. |
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| Pete (springfield): Good morning martin, how are you doing? |
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Martin Nolet: Pete, I'm doing great. I couldn't be better with the start of the season only one week away. |
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| chris - worcester ma: what do you think of the new
freshman class? |
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Martin Nolet: Hey Chris! Thank you for your question. Our coaches have made a terrific job recruiting players in the last couple years and it's particularly true this year. We've added speed upfront with Carzo, Olczyk, and Czepiel and we have skilled defensemen in Rowe and Donnellan. We also brought in two redshirt defensemen with great potential in Raiola and Lefebvre. The goalie we brought in, Randy Wolcott, will add depth to our seasoned veteran. |
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| Kevin Gibbons (Amherst MA): Martin,
I Was Wondering Are You Going To Go Pro After College Hockey ? Im Sure I'll Be Watching You Guys This Year. New Guys After Me And The Guys Of The 08-09 Team Graduated. Anyways Good Luck To You And The Other Seniors On The Team For The Remaining Days Of College
PS Happy 23RD Birthday Man !!! As I Know Its The day before the exhibition game ! |
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Martin Nolet: Hey Kevin! Thank you for the birthday wish. My plan is hopefully to get a chance to play pro hockey after this year. However, I want to focus on my senior year and help the team achieve the highest level. |
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| Mark (Hull, MA): Do you think it'll be tough to replace the play of Bevis and Wessbecker on the blueline this coming season? Have any of the freshmen defensemen stood out to you so far in practice? |
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Martin Nolet: Hey Mark, it's always tough to replace any seniors because they had such a good understanding of the college game. However, we will see more of guys like Doug Kublin, Mike Marcou, and Kevin Kessler who each had very good summers and wlll be more than ready to step in and contribute like they did so well last year. We will definitely have a strong core of defensemen with these guys in addition to Braun and Irwin who each had excellent seasons last year. Don't forget the two incoming freshmen who could have a big impact right away. |
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| Tim (Springfield): Martin, what was the biggest challenge for you when you came here from Canada? Love game nights in the Mullins Center by the way - you guys are awesome to watch! |
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Martin Nolet: Hey Tim! I get that question a lot. The biggest challenge was definitely the language. I come from a french environment and knew a fair amount of English before I came here. However, it was nothing like living in a complete English environment. I had some rough times at the beginning, but I was lucky to have teammates that took the time to get to know me even if the communication was hard at first. |
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| Nancy in Sunderland: Who will be some of the toughest defensive teams in hockey east this year? |
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Martin Nolet: Hi Nancy! Thank you for your question. I think every game will be a challenge for our forwards., but if I had to pick a couple teams, I would go with BU, Vermont, Lowell. Playing at Maine and Northeastern is also always tough |
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| Alex (NYC): Martin, good luck this season! I was wondering how you found out about UMass? It seems like to other guys from your area followed you here as well. |
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Martin Nolet: Good morning Alex! Mike Lecomte and I were both recruited at the same time by coach Gendron. He always tries to go in Quebec a couple times a year to see what is outhere. My junior team (Champlain) makes a good job drafting players who wants to go to college. |
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| Sarah (Amherst): Hi I come to all the games and love watching you play! What's your major and what do you want to do when you are finished playing hockey? |
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| Sarah (Amherst): Hi I come to all the games and love watching you play! What's your major and what do you want to do when you are finished playing hockey? |
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Martin Nolet: Hi Sarah! Thank you for coming to all our games on behalf of the whole team. I'm a pre-med psychology major. Once I stop playing hockey, I want to go to medical school. I'm interested in becoming an orthopedic surgeon. |
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| Terry (Boston): What made you decide to be a defensive player and what does the team need to do this year to be successful? |
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Martin Nolet: Hi Terry! It's funny that you asked this question, because I did not really decide to become a defenseman. Two years before I came to umass, my coach ask me to switch from forward to defense. He told me it was the only way I could make the team. It turned out to be the best move of my young career, and I will forever be grateful to him (ahah). As far as your second question is concerned, we need to be consistent week after week. We have a skilled team like we never had before but we have to make sure that we are mentally and physically ready to fight hard every night. |
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| Glen - Agawam, MA: What do you feel is the best part of your game? Looking forward to seeing you guys kick butt this year! |
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Martin Nolet: Hey Glen! When I'm at my best on the ice is when I'm physical and being smart about it. I would say that my skating abilities is the best part of my game. I also pride myself on being smart in my defensive zone. |
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| Nick (Springfield, MA): Who has had the biggest influence on your career? |
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Martin Nolet: Hey Nick, I would say that my dad had the biggest influence on my career. He is the one who introduced me to hockey when I was 5 and made me do figure skating at the age of 3 for 8 years. I'm definitely sure that figure skating is the reason that I'm a good skater now so I'm grateful to him for that. He also comes to most of my games given the 6 1/2 hours drive both ways. |
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| Mike Springfield: Marty, I am a big fan. Please let me know how the pre-season is going and what the team is doing. Good luck this year! |
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Martin Nolet: Hey Mike, it's nice to hear from you. Pre-season is going really well. We have hard on and off-ice workouts that guys are being really serious about. We are also introducing our system to the freshmen so when game time comes they are ready. The guys are really excited and has high hopes for this season. We can't wait to jump on the ice on October 8th for our season opener and make an early statement. |
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| Matt (Amherst): Hey Martin! Great season last year. What do you think are the teams chances this year in Hockey East? |
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Martin Nolet: Thank you Matt! Hockey East is always one the best if not the best league in college hockey and we want nothing less than to win the league. If we work hard and have the right mentality for every game, I like our chances of reaching our objectives. |
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| Josh (Boston): (Soccer style chant) Nooooooollllleeeeeeeeeeeet! Nolet, Nolet, Nolet! Noleeeeet, Noleeeeeet! Martin, what's your favorite chant at the hockey games? Anything special you want to hear this year? |
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Martin Nolet: Hey Josh, thanks for cheering for me. My favorite chant is definitely the Nolet song but the noise meter also gets me going. I just really like it when there is a lot of people and noise in the mullins center. It gives our team an extra advantage so just come and make the most noise possible and encourage your friends and other students to do the same. |
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| Donald (Sunderland): Martin,
I heard that you are also a great bowler...is this true? |
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Martin Nolet: Hey Donald. I definitely am not a good bowler. I was lucky once last year and it happened to be at the team's tournament. I'll definitely have to work on my bowling game this year to defend my title. |
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Martin Nolet: Thanks for coming by to chat with me. Thank you for your support and we're looking forward to see you at the practice rink on October 3rd for our exhibition game to get a sneak peek of what this year will be all about. Go Umass hockey |
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