Young people at the White Buffalo Youth Lodge in Saskatoon had a once in a lifetime experience ton Wednesday.
Washington Capital and the NHL’s Vezina Trophy, Braden Holtby, made a stop at the Youth Lodge to engage with the kids.
Holtby, spent the afternoon with youth at the facility playing ball hockey, signing autographs and answering questions.
The Capitals goalie played his junior career with the Saskatoon Blades and says this is where he learned the importance of giving back.
“Lorne Molleken was here and he made a big emphasis on getting involved in the community and that taught all of us who played under him great life lessons and a route to take in order to improve society,” said Holtby.
The Capitals goaltender is also the face of Holtby’s Heroes, an organization that gives inner city youth in Saskatoon the chance to attend a blades game.
Many kids who have previously enjoyed their first Blades games through the Holtby Heroes program were able to get the once in a lifetime experience to actually play some ball hockey with the one of the best goalies in the teams history.
Holtby says he has come a long way since his days in Saskatoon and says it is surreal to be a Vezina Trophy winner, which is given to the leagues best goaltender of the year.
“Just seeing the names on that trophy, the guys I looked up to growing up…it will be cool in the future to look back at it with my family because (my name) is there forever,” said Holtby.
The product of Marshall, Saskatchewan was drafted by the Washington Capitals in 2008.
During the 2015/2016 season Holtby racked up 48 wins in a historic season for the Capitals.
While the Capitals fell short of winning the Stanley Cup this year, Holtby says he one day hopes to bring the cup to Saskatoon.