Rexall Place – Nick Holden is living the dream playing in the National Hockey League.
The 130th NHL game for the St. Albert minor hockey product and Colorado Avalanche defenceman was Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
“In midget or junior, I would’ve never guessed I would play that many,” Holden told the Gazette after his 123rd game with Colorado. “You dream of playing in the NHL but you don’t know if it’s going to be a reality and now that I’m here I’ve just got to keep pushing and working hard to stay here.”
Holden’s first NHL game was Oct. 20, 2010, a 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks, after the Columbus Blue Jackets signed the undrafted free agent on March 28, 2008.
After five seasons in the American Hockey League with Columbus’ affiliates in Syracuse and Springfield and five NHL games under his belt, Holden inked a two-year, $1.2 million deal with Colorado on July 5, 2013 and the next year on Canada Day agreed to a three-year, $4.95 million extension, with a $1.65 million annual salary cap hit.
“It was awesome,” Holden said of signing the new contract.
Last season, Holden was a healthy scratch the first 11 games before making his Colorado debut on the wing for the injured Jamie McGinn in the 3-2 overtime win against the Dallas Stars on Nov. 1.
Nine days later, the St. Albert Catholic High School alumnus registered his first NHL point after seven games with Columbus and four with Colorado on a snap shot that beat Washington Capitals’ goalie Braden Holtby. It was the game winner in the 4-1 decision.
Holden, 27, went on to finish second among Colorado defencemen with 10 goals while appearing in 54 games and in the playoffs was the team’s top-scoring blueliner with three goals and four points in the seven-game series against the Minnesota Wild.
“As the season went on I got more and more confident and I got more and more ice time and responsibility,” said the six-foot-four, 210-pound rearguard. “In the playoffs, I was kind of playing against the top line against (Zach) Parise and getting a bit of power play and penalty kill.
“It was kind of a good/bad way to end the year. Obviously we wanted to keep on going in the playoffs but it was good to end the year the way that I did.”
This season, Holden has five goals and 14 points in 69 games. His plus/minus is a team-high minus-16, compared to plus-12 last season while collecting 25 points.
His last goal was Feb. 16 against the Arizona Coyotes and last assist was Feb. 28 against Minnesota.
Holden’s NHL career totals are 15 goals, 39 points and 48 penalty minutes and his AHL numbers are 26 goals, 118 points and 235 PIM in 295 games.
The former midget AAA St. Albert Raider was a healthy scratch during a stretch of four games this season and was used as a fourth-line winger in a couple of games.
“My season, in my eyes, has kind of been similar to the team, just a little bit disappointing,” said Holden of the 2013/14 Central Division leaders (52 wins and 112 points) who won only three games in October. “I wanted to come back and kind of jump right back where I was last year and I had kind of a slower start and pushed the game maybe a little bit too much. I got back on track kind of after Christmas and I feel since Christmas we’ve been playing pretty good hockey.”
Patrick Roy, head coach and vice-president of hockey operations for Colorado, told the Denver Post in early January that Holden has to be himself to be successful.
“He doesn’t have to impress anybody. We’re very happy with him. We gave him a three-year deal. We’re pleased with our decisions. At the same time, he needs to play the game that gave him that opportunity. I would lie to you if I said he has had the start I wanted, but at the same time, he cares. He works hard. He’s passionate about the game,” Roy said of the former captain of the Chilliwack Bruins who led all Western Hockey League defencemen in goals with 22 and finished third in points with 60 in his second and last junior campaign in 2007/08.
Colorado’s wild-card playoff aspirations took a big hit in the loss to the lowly Oilers. It was 3-0 Oilers before the 10-minute mark when Semyon Varlamov was pulled after making only four saves.
Colorado rallied to even the score but the Oilers netted the winner on the power play with 9:18 to play.
It was the third consecutive loss and 28th in regulation time for the last-place team in the central standings.
“It hasn’t been the season that we wanted to have,” Holden said. “At this point in the year we’ve got to play a full 60. We needed these points and it’s disappointing not to get them. Obviously this is a big game for us to stay up in the standings and not to get those points is a killer but we still have nine games left and you never know so we’re going to obviously keep pushing right to the end. Hopefully we get some luck and the other teams lose and we can win out here.”
Holden made the save of the day by Colorado on the penalty kill. He was the last line of defence behind goalie Reto Berra with the score knotted at three in the third.
“It was kind of a desperate play. It was a mad scramble and I didn’t know where it really was so I figured just cover the low part of the net and I just happened to get my arm on it,” said Holden, who was down on both knees on the goal line to keep the puck out.
