Who are the DobberHockey writers? You read their articles every day, now it is time to go behind the scenes. In the "Meet the Writers" series, each DobberHockey writer will be put in the spotlight. They will share a little bit about themselves, their columns and some upcoming predictions. Next up is Marty Kwiaton.

Name: Martin Kwiaton
Twitter: N/A

Favorite Song?
Requiem For a Dream Theme Song

Clumsy (OLP)

Favorite Player? Past and present?
Past = Joe Sakic, Present = Ryan O'Reilly


First Fantasy League? Year? 1st round Pick? 2001, I didn't really get into fantasy hockey until after the lockout, but I entered a 1 year yahoo public league and it was done on an auto draft where I didn't set any rankings... 1st pick was Pavel Bure.

As the second half of Saturday's Pick’em for DobberHockey, do you put money down on your own predictions? If yes, what was your biggest win(s)?

Yes, but I'm not a huge gambler, I'll do a $5 pro line at most. The most I won was $180 which was exciting, almost had $300 once, thanks to two ties (Ottawa scored twice in the final minute against Boston to tie one of them) but in my final game the Lightning gave up the tying goal from the corner a shot along the goal line. Still had a chance in the shootout but Vinny Lecavalier hit the crossbar and Buffalo ended up winning the shootout.

If you could give a percentage on your track record, how well have you done thus far?

Lots of hills and valleys, but I probably come in around 55 - 60%, I'll look into it more for my first article, unfortunately that % isn't good enough for pro line most of the time.

Which team would you put your money on this upcoming season?

I miss the days I could put my money down on the Avs, and they'd be making a run at the conference finals year in and year out, but that won't be happening in the near future. I would put my money on the cup coming to Pennsylvania.

As an avid Colorado Avalanche fan, how excited are you regarding the offseason acquisitions?

I'm a little torn. I love the addition of PA Parenteau, not crazy about the $4 million/year for David Jones, who I don't see as much more than a 20 goal, 45 pt. guy. The main reason I'm torn though is that the team needs someone to put the puck in the net, and Parenteau is more of a playmaker. I would have loved to seen them roll the dice on Semin similar to what Carolina did. The Avs haven't had a 30 goal scorer since 06-07 when Sakic scored 36 and was the oldest player in the NHL, not named Gordie Howe, to put up 100 pts.

How do you enjoy being the DobberHockey forums’ beat writer for the Avalanche?

It's great when I have the time, and sucks when I don't. But it's terrific to have an area of the forums that you can just talk about your favourite team, and sound off on anything whether it's positive or negative.

Where did you get your forum name?

I'm a forester, and maple tree's are my favourite (mainly due to my love for maple syrup), hence mapletreemarty.

What is your favorite hobby / pastime away from the keyboard?

Ultimate Frisbee and Wood Working.

You have been quite busy this summer, what have you been up to?

Besides working, and playing with my son, playing ultimate competitively. Our Thunder Bay Giants touring team went to a tourney in Winnipeg and finished 3rd in the highest division, and we followed up by finishing 10th at Provincials in North Bay. I'm not 100% sure on that one since I separated my shoulder in the 2nd last game of the tourney laying out for a disc in the endzone. At least I hung onto it for the point, not a bad way to retire from competitive frisbee action.

How would you spend stress free end of summer day?

Playing some disc golf with my wife and sun, followed by a trip to the beach.

Any big upcoming plans?

More home reno's, it seems like they never end.

When you first log on, what are your go-to sites? Reads?

DobberHockey of course, Puck Daddy, TSN, Mile High Hockey (Avs Blog), All Things Avs, Niners Nation (I'm a huge 49ers fan). Most days I'm lucky if I can get to half of those sites.

Biggest disappointment in 2012-13? Team? Player?

I asked my wife about this questions and she said Team = Leafs and Player = all of the Leafs players haha and she's an avid Leafs fan too, packing it in a little early. I see the Sharks continue to fall a little in the Western Conference, they struggled to get in last year, and I don't see a whole lot of improvements going forward. Rick Nash will disappoint in the Big Apple. I lost a lot of respect for Nash when he tried to paint himself as Columbus' saviour by waiving his NTC to help the team rebuild and then turned around and would only accept a trade to 5 or 6 teams. Why sign such a long term deal in a place like Columbus in the first place if you are unhappy. He had a chance to get out or move on, and pick whatever team he wanted to.

Next up is Russ Bitely. 

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