WHAT is an ice hockey player when he’s not an ice hockey player?
The answer: A golfer.
Certainly that is the case for Braehead Clan’s netminder Chris Holt, who is living the dream after his career brought him to the home of the sport during the summer.
The man from Vancouver is one of the best goalies ever to play in the Elite League, having previously iced in the National Hockey League for the New York Rangers and St Louis Blues, while also turning out in the heralded Kontinental Hockey League, most recently for Donbass Donetsk.
However, away from flying pucks and battered pads Holt is no mug with a driver in his hand, boasting a more than impressive handicap of just one.
The 30-year-old confesses to being a ‘diehard golfer’, an obsession that only last week took him on a pilgrimage north to St Andrew’s.
“When the weather was nice I was golfing a lot but these days I have been sitting around and playing the guitar,” Holt told SportTimes.
“I was playing at the Renfrewshire country club but I went up to St Andrew’s as a tourist. It was a great experience.
“I’m a diehard golfer. My handicap is currently one. I’d be lying if I said I never thought about having given it a go properly at some point. If I spent fraction amount of the time on golf that I do hockey it would be interesting to see how far I’d get.
“It’s sad because I’m just a one-time-a-week guy. It just comes naturally to me. To be fair a lot of the guys are good. Ric Jackman, Alex Leavitt, Brendan Brooks, everyone has a pretty solid golf swing.”
To keep the golfing theme going, getting into the swing is exactly what Braehead are starting to do.
An overtime defeat in Sheffield on Sunday was not enough to put a dent in Clan’s recent resurgence that has taken them up the standings.
The Glasgow club now sit in a healthy fourth position in the league and second in the Gardner Conference.
It is a far cry from the situation faced during a poor start to the campaign, but Holt admits there was never any temptation to panic.
“It’s been competitive and I think our team are doing well now,” he said.
“The start to the season was frustrating, but I wasn’t truly concerned. If you look at my Tweets the entire time I was preaching that it was going to turn around. Once we start clicking the goals are going to start pouring in.
“The last two weekends we got 10 out of a possible 12, it shows we are doing the right things and we are starting to gel. I don’t think anyone was worried, we knew when we came together we would be a dangerous team.
“Our first two months were hectic with the travel then a busy last week or so. I think we are look forward to this time to come together more and sharpen things up.”
Reflecting on September that saw Braehead spend pretty much the whole month on the road, Holt added: “We have a great group of guys so the bus life isn’t too bad. We understand that it is part of our job. We know what is required of us.
“The standard of the league is better than I expected. I find a lot of the teams have the ability to win on any night.
“Previously teams have pounded their way through the league. This year every game someone has a dangerous line and combination.”
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