(Image Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

By Regan Bartel

Rapid rise through the ranks

Derrick Martin’s journey to 100 games

Mar 14, 2026 | 11:43 AM

The road to 100 games behind a Western Hockey League bench rarely arrives in a hurry.

For Kelowna Rockets head coach Derrick Martin, it almost felt like a blur.

Martin coached his 100th WHL game Friday night as the Rockets earned a 4-1 win over the Kamloops Blazers, a milestone that arrived less than two years after he first joined the organization.

“It’s been a journey,” Martin said with a smile afterward. “I share a coach’s room with Don Hay, so I’ve got quite a few of these to go before I’m anywhere near his level.”

The milestone is another marker in what has been a rapid climb within the organization.

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Martin arrived in Kelowna in August of 2024 as an assistant coach. Five months later, on January 10, 2025, he was named the club’s interim head coach. By June 27, the interim tag was removed, and Martin officially became the Rockets’ bench boss.

For a coach who never set out with a grand plan to lead a WHL team, the path has unfolded faster than expected.

“I was not a guy who had any ambition to be a coach,” Martin admitted. “I just wanted to play hockey.”

Coaching, as it turns out, found him.

After his playing days ended, Martin helped a senior team back home in Vermilion, Alberta. Around that same time, a local minor hockey team was in danger of folding if it couldn’t find someone to step behind the bench.

Martin volunteered.

“I stepped in for a year and found myself halfway through that season not missing playing very much,” he said. “From there, it just kind of steamrolled.”

The next steps came gradually but steadily: coaching roles in Alberta, time with Team Alberta, and experience with the Southside Athletic Club in Edmonton. Eventually, an opportunity opened in Kelowna.

Martin calls it a lucky break. Those around him might call it preparation meeting opportunity.

“I think I’ve worked really hard at it,” he said. “But I’ve also been fortunate to learn from some really good people.”

Among those influences is veteran coach Don Hay, whose decades of experience provide perspective inside the Rockets’ coaching room.

That mentorship has helped Martin grow quickly in a role that demands constant learning.

“You’re no different than the players,” Martin explained. “You’re always looking to improve. Whether that’s watching video, learning a new tactic, or talking hockey with the people around you.”

That growth has come not only in the technical side of the game, but also in the human side of coaching.

“I think I’ve become more emotionally aware,” he said. “Understanding what’s going on around me, understanding our players and the relationships. That piece is really important.”

Those relationships, Martin says, are what make the profession worthwhile.

Winning matters, especially in a passionate market like Kelowna. But the deeper reward comes later.

“When you see a player who’s struggling, and you’re able to help him through something, on the ice or away from the rink, that’s really meaningful,” Martin said. “And when you run into someone ten years later, and they still come up to say hello, that means more than you can put into words.”

For Martin, the milestone game also arrived at an interesting point in the season.

The Rockets’ victory over the Blazers came in the first half of a home-and-home series between the longtime rivals, a matchup that could foreshadow a first-round playoff meeting.

“I think it adds another layer to the game,” Martin said before the contest. “Both teams know we’re about ten days away from everything being finalized.”

But Martin was also quick to emphasize that the rivalry itself provides plenty of motivation.

“The standings matter, being at home matters, the rivalry matters,” he said. “And respect is earned. We want to go out and grab a little bit of respect.”

That mindset reflects Martin’s approach behind the bench: accountability, identity, and a belief that success comes from collective habits rather than individual flashes.

Following a performance earlier in the week that he felt lacked maturity, Martin challenged his team to respond.

“We had too many guys working in silos,” he said. “When we’re at our best, we manage the puck well, and we play together.”

The response against Kamloops suggested the message landed.

Still, Martin remains focused on what comes next rather than the number attached to his coaching résumé.

“I remember the first win,” he said. “That one will always stick with you.”

That victory came during his time as an assistant when he filled in behind the bench for two games while then-head coach Kris Mallette attended the CHL USA Prospects Challenge. After a narrow overtime loss in Everett, Martin picked up his first victory in Portland.

The puck from that game still holds sentimental value.

“My son has it displayed in his bedroom,” Martin said.

Moments like that, he admits, are special.

But they don’t linger long during the grind of a WHL season.

“At this point,” Martin said, “I’m just focused on getting the next one.”

For a coach whose journey has already taken several unexpected turns, there’s every indication that more milestones and more wins are still ahead.