With the Bulldogs 3-0 shutout victory over the Victoria Grizzlies on Wednesday night, some club history was made as Joe Martin collected win number 129 behind the Bulldogs bench. In the process, Martin passed Kevin Willison to move into the top spot of the Bulldogs coaching win list.
The Bulldogs hired Martin on April 15th to take over from Matt Hughes. Martin was coming off a great season with the Merritt Centennials and was named the BCHL coach of the year for the 2018-2019 season.
Under Martin’s watch the Bulldogs program has ascended into one of the top programs in the BCHL. In 2021-2022 the Bulldogs won the regular season pennant in the Coastal Conference, and last season they advanced to their first BCHL championship series.
“Joe Martin is one of the top coaches in the BCHL and our club is lucky to have him.” said Bulldogs President David Michaud. “It’s been a great 5 seasons working with Joe. We navigated the lows of COVID and the highs of last season’s run to the championship final. He’s brought a level of consistency to this program that was really missing. The future of the Bulldogs is in great shape with Joe at the helm.”
Martin signed a 5-year extension in 2022 that will carry him through to 2027.
Martin and the Bulldogs will look to grow their win totals this weekend as they hit the road for Surrey and Chilliwack.
