Augsburg University Athletics

In hockey, Augsburg’s leading scorer in his final 3 seasons, finishing career with 40 goals and 85 assists (7th in school history) for 125 points, including 6 goals and 27 assists for 33 points in senior season, 12 goals with 21 assists for 33 points in 1997-98, 14 goals with 33 assists for 37 points in 1996-97… All-MIAC in hockey in 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 … Member of 1997-98 squad that won MIAC regular-season and playoff titles, finishing 4th nationally … As kicker in football, ended his career holding every Augsburg single-season and career kicking record, finishing with 24 field goals (still school record), 69 PATs (now 4th) and 141 kicking points (now 3rd) … Went 8-for-12 on FGs and 31-for-35 in PATs in Augsburg’s MIAC title season of 1997, and 12-of-18 on FGs and 30-of-30 on PATs in 1998 … All-MIAC, Don Hansen’s Football Gazette 2nd team All-America and Hewlett-Packard 2nd team All-America in 1998.

Martin Hlinka played a key role as part of two championship teams during his Augsburg career, as a forward in hockey and as a kicker in football. A native of Bratislava, Slovakia, Martin was a dominant scorer for the Auggie men's hockey team, finishing his 86-game career with 40 goals and 85 assists for 125 points, with his 85 assists currently seventh-most in school history). He earned All-MIAC honors in his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. He was a key member of the 1997-98 Auggie squad that won the MIAC regular-season and playoff titles, advancing to the NCAA Division III national championships, finishing fourth. In football, Martin was a record-setting kicker, holding Augsburg's school record with 24 career field goals. He kicked eight field goals and 31 P-A-Ts in Augsburg's MIAC championship season of 1997, when the Auggies advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III national playoffs. In his senior year of 1998, he set single-season school records with 12 field goals and 66 kicking points, going 30-of-30 on P-A-Ts. He earned All-MIAC honors that year, in addition to being named to both the Hewlett-Packard and Don Hansen's Football Gazette All-American teams. Martin graduated from Augsburg in 1999 with a degree in international business, and played professional hockey for 15 years, He played in the American Hockey League, one step below the NHL, for five seasons, then played in the pro league in Germany for eight years. After his playing days ended, he served as a coach in Salzburg, Austria for three seasons, before returning to the United States in 2019, when he was named as an assistant coach for the Division I program at Canisus University. In April 2021, he was named as director of youth hockey for the new NHL team Seattle Kraken, at its Kraken Training Center. Martin and his wife, Lydia, have three children, Henry, Juluis and Louis.