MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE — Allen Americans coach Steve Martinson ’81, a Minnetonka native and former St. Cloud State standout, posted his 1,000th coaching victory in March. Martinson played 50 NHL games, one for the North Stars.
The numbers are eye-popping: 1,021 victories, 10 league championships in 22 years and titles in four different leagues.
And so are these numbers: 3,165 career penalty minutes, 432 penalty minutes in a season and more than 200 career fights.
They all belong to Steve Martinson, a Minnesota native who toiled most of his playing career as an enforcer at the Triple-A level, with 50 games in the NHL sprinkled in, and is the career victory leader among U.S.-born pro hockey coaches. On March 9, Martinson posted his 1,000th career victory as coach when the Allen Americans of the ECHL — hockey’s Double-A level — beat the Tulsa Oilers 3-2 in Allen, Texas.
