ESTEVAN — Chase Holt isn’t from Estevan, but you can forgive local hockey fans for thinking he is.
Holt, a 19-year-old forward from Regina, is in his third season of playing hockey in Estevan. He spent his final season of minor hockey playing for the Estevan U18 AAA Bears in 2023-24, and is now in his second season with the junior Eagle Sky Estevan Bruins.
“Everything is great here – the community and the support we get from everyone – and then … the facility that we get to come to every day, it doesn’t get much better than this,” Holt said in an interview with SaskToday.
He came to Estevan in 2024 hoping to make the U18 team. Bears’ head coach Ryan Pilon gave him a chance and decided to sign Holt. When Holt came to Estevan, he didn’t expect to last this long.
“It worked out that way in the end and I’m glad it did,” he said.
Junior hockey brings a more aggressiveness, higher intensity and a faster pace of play, he said, as players are trying to advance to the next level and obtain a scholarship.
He said he has always tried to play a physical, aggressive brand of hockey. Holt wants to be one of the hardest-working players on the ice. And he’s been rewarded for his efforts this season. He had nine goals through 37 games this season, more than he had in his two seasons in Estevan combined. (Five markers with the Bears in 2023-24 and three with the Bruins last year).
“I don’t score a lot, but I always try to score no matter what, and I try to do my best for the team,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I’m surprised. I definitely want to keep doing more and better as the year goes on, and I’m always trying to improve and do better.”
Holt also has a family connections to the team, but not the one that local fans might expect. His father Bart played for the Bruins in the late 1980s, Chase Holt said. But he’s not related to former Bruins Kaelan or Taysen Holt, or their father Todd, who was a late-round pick of the San Jose Sharks in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.
“A lot of people ask me if I have a relation to them, and it’s always surprising. I definitely assumed I was related to them, because there’s not a lot of Holts in Sask.”
Bruins head coach and general manager Drew Kocur noted Chase Holt was the first player he listed with the Bruins when Kocur joined the organization three years ago. Kocur described Holt as a late bloomer who worked really hard to improve.
“He is an energy guy for our group.”
Kocur said Holt brings a different element to the team with his physical play and his willingness to fight when necessary. Holt can change the momentum of a game with his energy, and Kocur is glad to see Holt get rewarded with more production.
“I’m not surprised. More happy for him. All of his offensive production comes from just hard work, being in the right spots and going to the right areas. Scoring for him is definitely a bonus.”
This season has been more enjoyable, Holt said, thanks to the Bruins’ on-ice success and the people involved with the team.
