Flyers' Porter Martone to play for Canada at World Championships
Martone, 19, isn't quite done with hockey for the summer, as he'll chase a gold medal in Switzerland with Team Canada.
Porter Martone isn’t quite ready to hang up the skates and put away his bag for the summer, even after what has been a whirlwind year.
At his end-of-season media availability at Flyers locker room clear out day on Tuesday, Martone revealed that he will join up with Canada for the World Championships in Switzerland. The tournament, which will run from Friday through May 31, will mark Martone’s second time participating at the event after he played two games last season.
“I think right now my focus is go try to win a gold medal, and that’s going to be another surreal opportunity for me. And I’m excited to do that,” Martone said Tuesday.
» READ MORE: Flyers prospect Jack Berglund to play for Sweden at the upcoming World Championships
The Canadian senior team will be Martone’s fourth team of the year after he started the season with Michigan State, captained Canada to bronze at the World Juniors, and finally joined up with the Flyers at the end of March for the stretch run and the playoffs.
The 19-year-old excelled at every stop, ranking fourth in the country in points per game (1.43) with the Spartans after racking up 25 goals and 50 points in 35 games. He added six goals and nine points in seven games at World Juniors, before becoming an integral part of the Flyers’ playoff push with four goals and 10 points in nine regular-season games. Martone added two goals and five points in 10 playoff games and was consistently among the Flyers’ most dangerous forwards in the postseason.
“For me, I love playing this game. And it’s tough to take me off the ice, and it’s tough to turn down a chance to represent your country,” said Martone of representing Canada. “It’s always a huge honor whenever you get asked. So I’m really excited, and should be a fun time.”
The opportunity to play for Canada will be another great experience and chance for Martone to play with and against some of the best in the world. Canada’s roster features the likes of Macklin Celebrini, Evan Bouchard, and Mark Scheifele, while All-Stars like Aleksander Barkov (Finland) and Matthew Tkachuk (United States) will participate for their respective nations.
» READ MORE: Porter Martone’s fast start with the Flyers was forged in Michigan State’s gym: ‘The best decision I ever made’
After the tournament, Martone said his plan is to go back to East Lansing and train at Michigan State before coming back to the Philadelphia area for a bit.
“I think there’s a lot of things I could work on. If I want to be the player I want to be, I have to continue to keep on improving it,” said Martone. “Every little aspect of my game, definitely my skating. I can improve on that more. But for me, I think the summer for me is to get back into the gym, get training, be ready to go and then, you know, work on everything on the ice, because I think I can improve at everything.”
Flyers prospect Jack Berglund is the only other player from the organization confirmed to be participating at the tournament.