Martone reflects on gold medal and record-breaking performance
‘My only goal going in there was I wanted to win a gold medal’
Any time your name is mentioned in the same breath as Connor Bedard, you know your hockey career is on the right track.
Peterborough native Porter Martone continues to add to a hockey resumé that gets more impressive with each passing season.
Considered one of the top prospects for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, Martone’s brilliance on the international stage is adding to his rising stock. The Mississauga Steelheads forward captained Canada to a gold medal at the 2024 IIHF World U18 Hockey Championships in Finland while eclipsing Bedard’s record for most career points by a Canadian at the tournament.
The lone returning player for Canada’s 2023 bronze-medal team, where he scored three goals and added three assists, Martone, 17, notched five goals and 12 assists for 17 points in seven games this year, for a career mark of eight goals, 15 assists and 23 points in 14 games. It beat Bedard’s previous record of 21.
“It is pretty cool I got to beat the record,” Martone said. “My only goal going in there was I wanted to win a gold medal. I didn’t even know about the record until I ended up beating it. I credit my linemates and all my teammates. I got set up a lot and was playing with some phenomenal hockey players. The only reason that record was broken is because of how good our team was.”
Martone also helped Canada’s summer U18 team win the GretzkyHlinka Cup gold medal last August in the Czech Republic.
“It was pretty cool to win a gold medal in both, but this one we were definitely playing against everyone’s best team,” Martone said. “To match up with the United States in the final and beat them was really cool. I think we were missing about four or five guys from the Hlinka tournament because they were playing in the CHL playoffs or had injuries. We got some new additions who helped and were an overall really good team.
“We had a very close-knit team which came together. We got together in Helsinki and had a oneweek training camp and we came together really close. We were like brothers.”
They posted a 7-0 record but trailed the Americans, 3-2, in the final and were being outshot 28-11 when they started their third-period comeback. They scored three goals on a five-minute power play to grab a 5-3 lead and after the U.S. clawed to within a goal, added an empty-net insurance marker.
“The coach came in after the second period and said let’s play for everyone back home in Canada and play Canadian hockey and just go out and have fun,” Martone said. It was special to be captain.
“We had a lot of good leaders in that room and guys who stepped up in their own way at different times. Being named captain was a cool experience because you dream when you are a little kid of playing for Team Canada and you see the captains who went through the U18 and world junior teams and there are some big names there,” he said.
Linemate Gavin McKenna, a brilliant 16-year-old from Yukon, set single-tournament Canadian records of 10 goals and 20 points and is already a favourite to be the top pick in the 2026 NHL draft.
“He’s a very smart hockey player who has flashes of skill and speed I’d never seen before,” said Martone. “We played together and hung out a lot and are close buddies. Seeing what he can do with the puck and how he thinks the game is truly amazing. He’s going to have a really good hockey career the next two years in the WHL and I would think he’ll go first overall in his NHL draft year.”