From forward to foodie

A weekly lap around the NHL by Free Press hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe

Jordan Martinook is hungry for more.

And who can blame the Brandon-born product? He got the ultimate taste of success last year in the form of a Stanley Cup championship, and he’s now seeking a second serving this season. His Carolina Hurricanes are off to a stellar start, carrying a 6-1-1 record into Canada Life Centre on Saturday afternoon to face the 4-1-2 Winnipeg Jets.

However, in this week’s column, we’re actually talking about food. Martinook has decided to add a little more to his plate by creating a new TikTok series called Meals With Marty in which he takes folks along for the ride as he and his teammates dine around the NHL.

“For those of you who don’t know, I’m a huge foodie,” Martinook said in his introductory video last week.

“One of the perks to playing in the NHL is we get to travel to all the major cities in the U.S. and Canada and we get to try new restaurants. I hope you guys follow along and give us some recommendations.”

We’re invested here at Dump & Chase, considering we hit up all the same NHL markets while covering the Jets through the season and are always looking to expand our palates.

First up was Montreal, where Martinook broke bread at Garde Manger. His video begins with the camera panning around the table to introduce his company for the evening: Taylor Hall, Sean Walker, Jordan Staal, Eric Robinson and Shayne Gostisbehere.

On the menu that night: beef tartare, octopus, tuna, snow crab, scallops, duck, steak, carrots, cream corn and “some guilty french fries.”

Martinook then wraps things up by handing out some scores: Food quality received a 9.1 — “very delicious. Everything was so good.” And service was a 9.5. — “incredible restaurant, would recommend.”

The only thing missing was the bill, which we suspect was rather sizable (and something our sports editor would flatly say “no” to ever covering in our own travel budget). But it’s clearly resonating with viewers, with more than 189,000 clicks so far.

And arguably the fine dining paid off, since the Hurricanes filled their bellies the following night by beating the Canadiens 6-4.

“One of the perks to playing in the NHL is we get to travel to all the major cities in the U.S. and Canada and we get to try new restaurants.”

Next up was Chicago, where Naia was the choice. Martinook revealed Hall — who previously played in the Windy City — picked the location. They were greeted with a personalized menu that included the Hurricanes logo.

Hall, Staal, Gostisbehere, Walker and Robinson were back for more with Martinook, while former Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers joined the party.

Their plates included tuna crispy rice, crab crispy rice, wagyu crispy rice, yellowtail crudo, tuna carpaccio, crispy potatoes, fried calamari, chicken schnitzel, branzino, crab pasta, steak, spaghetti alla mona, and for dessert, donut holes and banana pudding.

It’s a good thing these guys have incredible metabolism.

“The vibes were immaculate,” said Martinook as the video panned the nearby Chicago skyline and river view.

The food was given an 8.6 while the service came in at 8.9.

“The vibes were immaculate.”

“Great dinner and great company,” Martinook concluded. And the second in his series is the most popular so far, coming in at 207,000 views.

The team feasted on the Blackhawks 24 hours later, beating them 5-2.

We’re still waiting on the next video, which will hit close to home. It’s going to feature Friday night’s pre-game feast in Winnipeg and should be up in the next few days.

Any guesses at where they end up?

Don’t worry, folks, we’ve got you covered, and will report back in this space next week with all the dining details.

Around the glass

Masked mayhem

His licence plate may say “Friendly Manitoba,” but Winnipeg’s Joel Hofer is making some enemies these days.

The St. Louis Blues netminder found himself in the middle of a firestorm on Thursday night when he delivered a hellacious hit to an unsuspecting Kirill Kaprizov of the Minnesota Wild.

Hofer was coming out of his net to play a rimmed puck but took an interesting — and obviously deliberate — route which included quite the bodycheck on the star forward. He was rightfully given a two-minute interference penalty, and it sounds like we nearly had a goalie scrap as a result.

“I think it’s a dirty play,” said Wild puck-stopper Jesper Wallstedt, who told reporters he was thinking of skating the length of the ice to drop his glove and blocker.

You may recall Hofer came under fire in his hometown two years ago when, during that epic first-round playoff series with the Jets, he was repeatedly shooting pucks towards Winnipeg players during the pre-game warm-up. The NHL eventually stepped in and told him to cut it out.

Who’s to blame for all of this? How about Hofer’s job-share partner Jordan Binnington, who is no stranger to various antics and seems to relish being public enemy No. 1.

Jets players might want to keep their heads up for Hofer — who is off to a great start with a 2.43 goals-against average and .906 save percentage through five games — next Tuesday when they head to St. Louis to face the Blues.

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Oh, brother

We realize most Manitobans aren’t big fans of the Tkachuk brothers, despite the fact that their father, Keith, was a big star for the 1.0 Jets.

But how can you not admire the bit of hockey history they made the other day when Brady scored three times in a 7-3 Florida Panthers victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets — and Matthew assisted on all three.

There’s been plenty of brothers on the same team over the years, but one setting up the other for a hat trick had never happened until now.

How did Brady follow up his big night? By lighting the lamp three more times the very next game, a 3-2 overtime win over Vancouver. Matthew, however, only set up one of them.

The Jets will get their first look at the Tkachuks this season on Oct. 27 when the Panthers come to town, which will be followed by the rematch down in Sunrise three nights later.

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Sizzling Sens

It hasn’t been a great start for the folks predicting the Ottawa Senators would be heading for a doomsday scenario since Brady Tkachuk — the club’s former captain — was traded to Florida during the off-season.

Instead, the Sens are off to a 6-2-0 start and sitting atop the Atlantic Division, despite dealing with some early injury woes.

Elite goaltending has certainly been a factor as Linus Ullmark is 6-0 with a 1.20 goals-against average and .940 save percentage, allowing just seven goals in those six starts.

The Sens have been led offensively by Tim Stutzle (five goals, 11 points in eight games) but are getting contributions throughout the lineup, including a pair of game-winning goals from fourth-liner Stephen Halliday.

Shutdown D-man Artem Zub returned on Thursday, which helped bolster the blue line. However, on the offensive side, earlier this week winger William Eklund underwent ankle surgery and will be sidelined 10-to-12 weeks.

winnipegfreepress.com/mikemcintyre

winnipegfreepress.com/kenwiebe