Randy Holt
{{short description|Canadian ice hockey player}}
{{BLP sources|date=April 2013}}
{{Infobox ice hockey player
| image = Randy Holt 1977.JPG
| caption = Holt in 1977
| position = Defence
| shoots = Right
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 11
| weight_lb = 185
| played_for = Chicago Black Hawks
Cleveland Barons
Vancouver Canucks
Los Angeles Kings
Calgary Flames
Washington Capitals
Philadelphia Flyers
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|1|15|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Pembroke, Ontario, Canada
| draft = 45th overall
| draft_year = 1973
| draft_team = Chicago Black Hawks
| wha_draft = 41st overall
| wha_draft_year = 1973
| wha_draft_team = New England Whalers
| career_start = 1974
| career_end = 1984
}}
Stewart Randall Holt (born January 15, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who spent ten seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Known as one of the toughest players in the sport during his career, he still holds the NHL single-game record for penalty minutes.{{cite web|title=HHOF Records and Rankings -- Penalty Minutes|url=https://www.hhof.com/htmlFaceOff/r&rPIM.shtml|website=www.hhof.com|publisher=Hockey Hall of Fame|access-date=8 January 2017}}
Playing career
Holt was born in Pembroke, Ontario. After playing his junior hockey with the Sudbury Wolves, Holt was selected 45th overall in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft by the Chicago Black Hawks. He spent most of the next four seasons in the Central Hockey League with the Dallas Black Hawks, Chicago's top minor league affiliate, although he was a frequent callup to Chicago, appearing in 42 games over that stretch. He established himself as one of the toughest players in minor pro, recording a CHL record 411 penalty minutes in 1974–75,{{cite news|last1=Denlinger|first1=Ken|title=Capitals' Holt: Fighting Chance At an Upgraded Reputation|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1981/12/04/capitals-holt-fighting-chance-at-an-upgraded-reputation/221b233d-eb72-492d-b26c-d4bc2a2292ac/|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=8 January 2017|date=4 December 1981}} but also showed a fair amount of skill and was named a CHL First-Team All-Star in 1976 after scoring 52 points from the blueline.
Just after the start of the 1977–78 season, Holt was dealt to the lowly Cleveland Barons and finally received a chance to stick in the NHL full-time. He finished the season with 1 goal and 4 assists in 52 games, along with 249 penalty minutes. At the end of the season, however, the Barons ceased operations and Holt was claimed by the Vancouver Canucks in the resulting dispersal draft.
Holt appeared in only 22 games for the Canucks before being dealt to the Los Angeles Kings midway through the 1978–79 campaign. He finished the season with 1 goal and 9 assists for a career high 10 points, along with 282 penalty minutes, in 58 games between Los Angeles and Vancouver. Included in his penalty total was an NHL record 67 in a March 11, 1979{{cite web |title=The 67 Penalty Minute Period - The Randy Holt Story | website=YouTube | date=23 July 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsIine3Gnpg |access-date=2023-10-25}} game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
After another season in Los Angeles, Holt was traded to the Calgary Flames for the 1980–81 season. He played some of the best hockey of his career in the 1981 playoffs, recording 2 goals and 4 points in 13 games to help the Flames reach the Stanley Cup semi-finals. For the 1981–82 season, he was dealt to the Washington Capitals, where he set a club record with 250 penalty minutes. He broke his own record with a league-leading 275 penalty minutes the following season, and also appeared in a career-high 70 games, recording 8 assists. He closed out his career with a 26-game stint for the Philadelphia Flyers in 1983–84 before retiring.{{cite web |title=Jul 31, 1984, page 28 - The News Journal at Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/162000784/ |website=Newspapers.com |access-date=August 15, 2024 |quote=Flyers' Holt, Bathe retire}}
In 395 NHL games, Holt scored 4 goals and 37 assists, and amassed 1,438 penalty minutes.
His older brother Gary Holt also played in the NHL during the 1970s.
March 11, 1979
The toughest player on the Los Angeles Kings, Holt had been acquired midway through the 1978–79 season to add muscle to a skilled Kings team, and was expected to be a factor when the team travelled to Philadelphia to face off against the fearsome Flyers. After picking up a minor penalty early in the first period, Holt fought Philadelphia enforcer Frank Bathe at 14:58 of the first period, picking up 20 minutes in penalties. However, Holt felt that he had been a victim of a cheap shot from Flyers' agitator Ken Linseman earlier in the game, and took it out on Flyer Blake Dunlop when the two came together in the corner. At the end of the first period, the Flyers confronted Holt as he came out of the penalty box, which escalated into a bench-clearing brawl. Although he was only involved in a fight with Flyer Paul Holmgren, who initiated the conflict, Holt was assessed a further 45 minutes in penalties for his actions during the brawl, including a triple game misconduct, bringing his game total to 67,{{cite web|title=SI.com's 50 landmark hockey fights|url=https://www.si.com/nhl/2013/11/15/si-com-50-landmark-hockey-fights|website=SI.com|publisher=Sports Illustrated|access-date=8 January 2017}} shattering the previous NHL record of 48 set by Jim Dorey in 1968. He was also suspended three games by the league for his actions.
Career statistics
=Regular season and playoffs=
| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em" | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Regular season ! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"| ! colspan="5"|Playoffs | ||||||||
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM | ||||||||
| 1970–71
| Sudbury Cub-Wolves | NOJHL | 35 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 249
| 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 106 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1970–71 | OHA | 35 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 178
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1971–72
| Niagara Falls Flyers | OHA | 27 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 118
| 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 31 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1972–73 | OHA | 55 | 7 | 42 | 49 | 294
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 34 |
| 1973–74
| CHL | 66 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 222
| 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 51 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1974–75 | NHL | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1974–75
| Dallas Black Hawks | CHL | 65 | 8 | 32 | 40 | 411
| 10 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 86 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1975–76 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1975–76
| Dallas Black Hawks | CHL | 64 | 6 | 46 | 52 | 161
| 8 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 51 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1976–77 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 14
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 1976–77
| Dallas Black Hawks | CHL | 30 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 90
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 25 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1977–78 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1977–78
| NHL | 48 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 229
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1978–79 | NHL | 22 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 80
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1978–79
| NHL | 36 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 202
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1979–80 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 42 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 94
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1980–81
| NHL | 48 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 165
| 13 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 52 |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1981–82 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9
| — | — | — | — | — |
| 1981–82
| NHL | 53 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 250
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1982–83 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 70 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 275
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20 |
| 1983–84
| NHL | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74
| — | — | — | — | — |
| bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3"|NHL totals ! 395 !! 4 !! 37 !! 41 !! 1438 ! 21 !! 2 !! 3 !! 5 !! 83 |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Ice hockey stats}}
- [http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1973/73045.html Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com]
- [https://mrbiofile.com/2021/08/20/biofile-randy-holt-interview/ Randy Holt interview]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, Randy}}
Category:Calgary Flames players
Category:Canadian ice hockey defencemen
Category:Chicago Blackhawks draft picks
Category:Chicago Blackhawks players
Category:Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States
Category:Cleveland Barons (NHL) players
Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen
Category:Dallas Black Hawks players
Category:Los Angeles Kings players
Category:New England Whalers draft picks
Category:Niagara Falls Flyers players
Category:Sportspeople from Pembroke, Ontario
Category:Ice hockey people from Renfrew County
Category:Philadelphia Flyers players
Category:Sudbury Wolves players