Big Interview: From New York Rangers to Braehead - the story of hockey goalie Chris Holt

Sunday night symbolised the end of not just a season for the man that has filled a net for Braehead Clan over the last few months but also an era and a career for a player who has reached the very top in his ice hockey career. Drafted in the National Hockey League to the New York Rangers as a youngster, Holt would go on to realise his ambition of playing for the world famous club from the heart of Manhattan, before also going on to ice for the St Louis Blues ahead of a long few years travelling the world.

Chris Holt in action for Braehead. Picture: Al Goold

His whistle-stop tour eventually would bring him to Scotland last year as he was signed up by the Clan, who play in the Elite Ice Hockey League, in what Holt already had decided would be his last season before finally hanging up his skates. As a result of Braehead’s 4-3 aggregate play-off quarter-final defeat to Fife Flyers at the weekend, the end has come that bit sooner for the man that has played for Team USA twice. Despite the fact TJ Caig’s scrappy overtime goal effectively ended his career in the Braehead Arena immediately, Holt spoke candidly to SportTimes as he attempts to contemplate life beyond the pads.

“The fact it was my last game was in the back of my mind somewhere,” he said. “I remember sitting there telling myself ‘five minutes for your career’.

“The goal that they got I don’t think I would have played it any different. I didn’t have a lot of chance to save it, that and their first goal were both nice, quick plays. I’m proud of the way I played on both nights and I’m able to hold my head up and say in this series I gave it a run.

“I was contemplating retiring last year. I don’t want to say I made a selfish decision but I wasn’t sure. That’s why I decided to play one more. I think my kids would kill me if I went back on it now to stay for another year!

“My family at home have been so great about letting me come here and do what I love to do one more time. I couldn’t have come to a better place. I was pleasantly surprised by the majority of the fan base, I did have some haters! But I think the majority were fans and you’d be lying to yourself if you didn’t think I put it on the line every night.”

Holt is set to return back to the US. Picture: Al Goold.

At a young age Holt was catapulted into the big time in the Big Apple. Drafted as 180th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, the then 18-year-old became part of what many consider as the biggest ice hockey franchise in the world. Living in apartment next to the club’s training rink uptown, Holt would travel to games at Madison Square Garden with fellow understudy Henrik Lundqvist, who went on to become and remain the Rangers and Sweden goaltender.

His one appearance in red, white and blue came on the road away to the Washington Capitals on December 3, 2006 in a 20-minute cameo that saw him keep a clean sheet. After his move to St Louis, he would repeat the feat for the Blues, keeping a 100 per cent NHL record.

“I have a few highlights,” said Holt, who qualifies as being eligible to play for America due to his mother. “Being able to play for the United States twice was a big thing for me, being drafted was a highlight, playing in the NHL even if it was only for 40 minutes was a huge achievement. It was for New York Rangers and St Louis both as relief and both on the road.

“I was on the bench at the Garden and I did get to skate out there. I was there and I can sleep at night knowing that even if it was just for a moment I made it to where I wanted to go.”

Holt during the early years of his career at the New York Rangers.

Holt’s path then took him to various clubs throughout North America after leaving St Louis in 2009, including stints at Binghamton Senators of the credible AHL and the Elmira Jackals. However, the American’s career would soon pick up as he set his sights further afield in 2010 with a move to Dinamo Riga.

It was in Latvia that Holt would get the chance to play in the much-heralded Kontinental Hockey League, seen as many as the second best league in the world outside of the NHL. It was here he enjoyed two successful seasons with Dinamo, recording a combined save percentage of 92%, a figure that helped earn him a spot in the KHL All Star game as well as a call up for his country, for whom he played twice.

“Playing in the KHL All Star game was a big accomplishment,” acknowledges Holt. “Signing some lucrative deals was a big accomplishment, too.

“My consistency over the last eight or nine years has been really great and I think every team that picked me up got what they paid for. I’m very proud to have been able to play up to the expectation of the team that hired me.”

Switches to fellow KHL outfits Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg – aye, them – and Donbass Donetsk eventually saw Holt move on to Italy and Austria. The pain of being away from his family and dealing with life in foreign lands began to weigh on the mind of the then 29-year-old, who began to set his sights on the final place he was going to lay his helmet.

That place was Scotland.

Last summer Holt signed for Braehead Clan, replacing the cult figure of Kyle Jones in goal. Nobody could have envisaged the bond, affection and genuine connection this one-time NHL goalie would come to have towards a club not even six years old.

Clan finished third in the league and won the Gardiner Conference this year. Picture: Al Goold

Both on and off the ice Holt would become a key figure for Braehead and cement himself as one of the club’s finest players. No mean feat considering they’ve also had two Stanley Cup Winners in their ranks. He was pivotal in Clan retaining the Gardiner Conference title on the last day of the regulation season just over a week ago in Edinburgh, and his on-ice heroics during last weekend’s play-off with Fife ensured Braehead were able to push the game to overtime on a dramatic night in Glasgow.

Off the ice, a series of cameos on fan podcasts, singing and playing the guitar at supporter events and whacking his way around the Old Course at St Andrew’s – and recording a one under par score on his first attempt – are just a handful of the memories that have this Ranger keeping Braehead forever in his heart.

“Sunday was a big highlight even though it ended in a loss,” said Holt, who endured a tearful lap of honour around a sold out Braehead Arena on Sunday night. “The send off the amazing Braehead fans gave me at the end was an emotional moment for me, but I’m so grateful for them, they have been supportive of me all year.

“There’s no doubt I’ll be following Braehead. I don’t follow any former team but I will with this one. It has been an absolute treat to play here. From the fans, management, coaches and team-mates, it’s all been just first class. It is definitely a place I’ll remember with very fond memories.”

And the future?

“I would love to find some way to stay involved in the game. It would be real depressing for me just to quite cold turkey and do something else. Either by volunteering or helping to coach at home, I do hope there will be an opportunity for me to stay in hockey.

“There are a lot of irons in the fire but it will need to wait until I’m home before we look at it properly.”