Horace "Pepper" Martin

Horace "Pepper" Martin
Biographical details
Born	Warner, New Hampshire
Died	November 7, 2000
Alma mater	University of New Hampshire
Playing career
1939–1941	New Hampshire
Position(s)	Defenceman
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1951–1962	New Hampshire
Head coaching record
Overall	76–76–3 (.500)

Last updated December 31, 2024

Horace Sawyer "Pepper" Martin Jr. was an American ice hockey player and head coach for New Hampshire.^[1]

Career

Pepper Martin attended the University of New Hampshire beginning in the late 1930s, graduating with a BA in business in 1941.^[2] In his final two years with the university he played for the men's ice hockey team as a defenseman. After graduating Martin joined the Army and served in the Fourth Infantry Regiment during World War II. After his time with the military was up he returned to his alma mater and coached the freshman ice hockey club in 1944.^[3]

In 1951 he was named as head coach of the varsity team and set about trying to improve the team's fortunes. The biggest problem the team faced was playing without an artificial ice surface. In his first three plus years with the program it was a regular occurrence to cancel games when the weather turned and melted their playing surface. After having to cancel their final four scheduled games in 1954 plans were put in motion to solve the issue, and in February 1955 the first artificial ice rink, the Harry C. Batchelder Rink, was opened on campus. The rink was a boon for the Wildcats, who saw their winning percentage rise over the next three seasons, culminating in their first double-digit win campaign in 1957–58.^[4] Over his final five seasons with the Wildcats Martin lead his team to four 10+ win records and stepped down in 1962.

While coaching the Wildcats Martin earned a master's degree in education and began using it in 1962 when he became an assistant principal at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School, a job he held until retiring in 1987. Martin was also a reservist in the US Army, retiring with the rank of colonel in 1984. He was inducted into the UNH 100 club Hall of Fame in 1993.

Personal life

Pepper Martin died in November 2000 at the age of 81. He had one daughter, Suzanne Guptill, and three step children: Heidi Lyons, Mark Lyons and Deborah Pepernik.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing
New Hampshire Wildcats Independent(1951–1961)
1951–52	New Hampshire	5–5–0
1952–53	New Hampshire	3–6–0
1953–54	New Hampshire	2–5–1
1954–55	New Hampshire	5–8–0
1955–56	New Hampshire	3–11–0
1956–57	New Hampshire	7–7–1
1957–58	New Hampshire	13–3–0
1958–59	New Hampshire	14–5–0
1959–60	New Hampshire	11–8–0
1960–61	New Hampshire	3–11–0
New Hampshire:		66–69–2
New Hampshire Wildcats(ECAC Hockey)(1961–1962)
1961–62	New Hampshire	10–7–1	10–7–0	11th
New Hampshire:		10–7–1	10–7–0
Total:		76–76–3
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

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References

↑ "Horace Martin Year-by-Year Coaching Record". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2017-06-09.
↑ "In Memoriam". UNH Magazine Online. Retrieved 2017-06-09.
↑ "Wildcat Hockey: Ice Hockey at the University of New Hampshire". New Hampshire Wildcats. October 2002. ISBN 9780738511023 . Retrieved 2017-06-06.
↑ "New Hampshire Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2017-06-09.

External links

Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com

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[1] "Horace Martin Year-by-Year Coaching Record". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2017-06-09.

[2] "In Memoriam". UNH Magazine Online. Retrieved 2017-06-09.

[3] "Wildcat Hockey: Ice Hockey at the University of New Hampshire". New Hampshire Wildcats. October 2002. ISBN 9780738511023 . Retrieved 2017-06-06.

[4] "New Hampshire Men's Hockey Team History". USCHO.com. Retrieved 2017-06-09.

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v t e New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey
Formerly the New Hampshire Bulls
Playing venues	UNH Ice Rink (1926–1955) Harry C. Batchelder Rink (1955–1965) Snively Arena (1965–1995) Whittemore Center (1995–present)
Head coaches	Hank Swasey (1924–1925) Ernest Christensen (1925–1936, 1937–1938) Carl Lundholm (1936–1937) George Thurston (1938–1939) Anthony Dougal (1939–1943, 1946–1947) Joseph Petroski (1947–1951) Horace "Pepper" Martin (1951–1962) A. Barr Snively (1962–1964) Rube Bjorkman (1964–1968) Charlie Holt (1968–1986) Bob Kullen (1986–1987, 1988–1990) Dave O'Connor (1987–1988) Dick Umile (1990–2018) Michael Souza (2018–present)
Seasons	1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	ECAC Hockey (1961–1964, 1966–1984) ECAC 2 (1964–1966) Hockey East (1984–present)
Rivalries	Dartmouth Maine
All-time leaders	Ralph Cox (243 Points) Ralph Cox (127 Goals) Kevin Regan (70 Wins)
Frozen Four appearances	1977 1979 1982 1998 1999 2002 2003
NCAA Tournament appearances	1977 1979 1982 1983 1992 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013
Conference Tournament titles	ECAC Hockey: 1979 Hockey East: 2002 2003
Hobey Baker winners	Jason Krog (1999)