By Robb Fenton
Braden Holtby is used to new-looking rosters each season.
Playing three full season in the Western Hockey League has him accustomed to players graduating, being traded and moving on for different reasons.
But it doesn’t mean he has to like it.
Holtby, a Lloydminster native, is currently between the pipes for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League and with the team sitting in first place, there’s no reason for Holtby to complain, but he did admit the season didn’t get off to the start he, or anyone else on the team, would have liked.
“It’s going well now. We’ve had a big turn around this year for guys coming in. A lot of the guys haven’t played together and the first half of the season has really been a feeling out process and getting the chemistry together. It’s been a totally different look than we’ve had the last couple years,” Holtby said last week.
Holtby has posted a 14-10-1 record, with a 2.66 goals against average and a .900 save percentage so far this year, sharing time in the net with Dany Sabourin.
Holtby has also put up two shutouts and despite the team’s new-look roster, they’re still tied for first in their division and are actually the highest scoring team in the league right now, with 159 goals in 42 games.
The big difference this year, however, is the team’s goals against, which is still respectable, but ranks second-last to teams leading their divisions.
Holtby said everyone has had to adjust to the style the team is playing.
“It’s been harder to get used to. The last couple years have been defensively minded teams, this year all our skill is up front. That’s a change. But as long as we win games, it doesn’t matter how,” he said.
“It did take some getting used to because there’s going to be more scoring chances against because we have so many for. It’s tougher for a goalie, but as long as we keep putting wins up.”
Holtby said, like the entire team, his game is rounding into form after a bumpy start.
His record is good, but he said he would like to see the goals against go down and the save percentage climb.
That may be wishful thinking for the Washington Capitals prospect, but he said he’s more worried about winning each game than what his stats look like.
“It’s coming around now,” Holtby said of his play. “At the beginning of the year, it was frustrating, the numbers aren’t where you want them to be, but you feel your game is fairly good. That was a bit frustrating, but now it’s focusing on playing well every game and playing like I can and just keep putting wins on the board. Not looking at the numbers too much or worrying about that, just try to do what I can to help the team win.”
Holtby was drafted in the fourth round, 93rd overall by the Capitals in the 2008 entry draft and has played 14 games with the big club, posting a 10-2-2 record with two shutouts.
He spent one season in the East Coast Hockey League and this is his third season in the AHL, where he has accumulated a 56-28-5, with nine shutouts.
Holtby said his team has taken a lot of strides in the right direction, but the Bears still have a lot of work to do to get back to the playoffs and to the Calder Cup.
“We definitely have the tools, but we’re a ways away from where those teams were that won the Cup. As far as character goes, we’ve had some chemistry the last couple weeks that’s starting to improve. We’re coming together as a group, guys are stepping up in their roles, especially the grinders, defensively and blocking shots, things we weren’t really getting at the start of the year,” Holtby explained.
“It’s definitely positive going forward.”
Like any team, it comes down to doing the small things and Holtby has noticed his team doing that more and more and if it continues, the Bears will be right back in the mix for another league title.
“We definitely have the skill. We’re one of the most skilled teams in the league, it’s just doing those little things that every team needs to do to be a champion that we’re going to have to work on,” Holtby said, adding it’s going to be an exciting second half.