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Holinaty’s new found confidence leads to success

Nov 22, 2016 | 1:21 PM

Two years ago, 18-year-old Keaton Holinaty came to North Stars camp and was cut by coach Kevin Hasselberg.

Now, he’s lighting the lamp early and often for Battlefords in his final season of junior. He is currently second on the team in goals with 12 in 26 games.

“Yeah, had some bad blood here,” Holinaty chuckled after practice on Tuesday, recalling his first time trying out for the North Stars. “Then Kevin wanted me back here. Unfortunately he couldn’t coach me this year but Nate [Bedford] has been an awesome coach.”

Holinaty, a Hardisty, Alta. native, returned by way of a trade this past summer.

He spent the last two seasons playing for the Drumheller Dragons of the AJHL but the North Stars acquired him in June in exchange for future considerations when Hasselberg was still head coach and general manager.

Dragons head coach Brian Curran had let Holinaty know after last season ended that he was going to be shipping out some older veterans. Originally, Battlefords was not among the teams on Holinaty’s list of preferred destinations.

“I kind of stuck to [AJHL] teams just because I didn’t know Battleford was that interested,” Holinaty said. “Then when I found that out, obviously I put them at the top of the list. I knew this was a good hockey town and I’m loving it so far.”

Holinaty began the year with nine points in his first 16 games. That was already much better than his second year in Drumheller when he tallied 14 points all season long, in 57 games.

Recently, however, he has caught fire, with 11 points in his last 10 games, including seven goals. The entire second line – aptly labelled the “20-line,” because Holinaty, Brett Horn, and Connor Logan are all 20 years old – has combined for 35 points over their last 11 games.

Both Holinaty and coach Bedford think Holinaty’s recent personal success has a lot to do with confidence.

“Sometimes these young men get put in positions where they’re pigeon holed as penalty killers [or] they’re pigeon holed as defensive type specialists,” Bedford said. “I think he’s grasped the opportunity to just be a hockey player. That’s what we try to impress upon everyone here; is just be a hockey player. Do everything great.

“He’s really liked the opportunity to be an offensive guy while [also] playing defence and we appreciate that.”

In Drumheller, Holinaty said he wasn’t as confident last year, even after getting a year of Junior A under his belt.

“I had not much opportunity there, so when I did have the opportunity I was kind of pressuring myself to do better,” he said. “I think that’s what was screwing me up. This last year, I just said ‘I just want to be more confident, so take the puck to the net.’ And it’s been working so far.”

It’s not just about driving to the net though.

Holinaty has a wicked shot, even if he’s hesitant to describe it that way.

“That’s tough,” he said when asked to describe the type of game he plays. “I like to say I have a good shot. I like shooting the puck.”

Like many of his North Stars teammates, Holinaty has aspirations to play NCAA hockey in the future. Ideally, he’d like to combine hockey with earning a business degree.

Business “is so broad, that you have so many options after that,” he said. “Div. 1 is the main option. I’m looking for any scholarship right now. NCAA is where I want to be.”

If he does go the NCAA route, he would take the same path as some of the players he looked up to while growing up in Hardisty. That’s because as a kid, he would often travel to Camrose to watch local Hardisty natives play for the Kodiaks of the AJHL.

“It was Cam Dion and Tanner Dion, so it was exciting to always go there,” he said. “I always pictured myself on the ice. It’s cool that I can do that now.”

Tanner Dion would go on to play four seasons of NCAA hockey with the University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellow Jackets, including serving as captain for his senior season.

If Holinaty keeps on shooting the puck like he has the past month, there’s no reason a similar fate won’t be in the cards for him.

 

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11