Joey Martin is Elite League player of the week after opening the domestic ice hockey season in sensational style.

Cardiff Devils forward Martin is nicknamed the GOAT by Welsh ice hockey fans – Greatest Of All Time.

Their tribute to Devils favourite Martin is for a Canadian ace who has scored 124 goals and more than 350 points in five seasons and 282 appearances with the club.

Cardiff, League title winners for the last two seasons, played Champions League hockey to open the 2018-19 season before going into back-to-back home fixtures last weekend.

Martin scored four goals and added up an assist during wins against Nottingham Panthers 3-2 in the league and Milton Keynes Lightning in a Challenge Cup group game (9-1).

Ontario-born Martin fired the winning goal against Panthers after his team battled back from two-goals down and netted a hat-trick against Lightning.

“Going from the CHL back to domestic games does need an adjustment,” said Martin. “It’s a different style of play and we have more time on the puck in this league because it’s faster elsewhere.

“A lot of us made that adjustment last year from the CHL and we kind of knew what to expect.

“Looking ahead, I think we have to be consistent and that’s the biggest challenge. 

“Other teams will bring their best against us.

“Saturday’s win (v Panthers) was great for our team, a nice comeback in front of our crowd after being two goals down going into the final period.

“We had our chances throughout and Nottingham have a good team, but we remained confident and kept our composure.

“There was no doubts in our team and we had the mindset that if we scored one, more would follow and that’s how it panned out. It was certainly a good character win for us.

“We took advantage of a lot of our chances against Lightning and a lot of guys saw the scoresheet which was good.”

Martin has won the League Player of the Week award for a third time, having done so previously once during the 2015-16 season and again in the following campaign.

Devils are at home against Coventry Blaze in a Challenge Cup clash at Ice Arena Wales on Saturday, September 22.

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Remaining Devils fixtures in September

Saturday 22: Cardiff Devils v Coventry Blaze (7pm, Challenge Cup)

Sunday 23: Sheffield Steelers v Cardiff Devils (4pm, Elite League)

Wednesday 26: Nottingham Panthers v Cardiff Devils (7.30pm, EL)

Saturday 29: Guildford Flames v Cardiff Devils (6pm, CC)

Sunday 30: Cardiff Devils v Glasgow Clan (6pm, EL)