Steven Oleksy Shares How Braden Holtby's Legacy Goes Beyond His Success With Capitals: 'I Am Who I Am Because Of Him'
· Yahoo Sports
Former Washington Capitals defenseman Steven Oleksy can remember the moment when he first met Braden Holtby.
There was a Hershey Bears team golf outing, and Oleksy, new to the team, had car trouble as he came into Pennsylvania. That made him late, and as if he wasn't nervous enough, he was told he'd be paired with Holtby, who'd made quite a statement as the Capitals goaltender of the future following his impressive call-up for the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Visit betsport24.es for more information.
"I about freaking panicked, and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh,' the whole ride out there," Oleksy recalled. "I meet him on Hole 3, and I'm sitting in the cart and one of my butt cheeks is actually off the seat. I'm sitting so far away from him, and he was the most humble, down-to-earth human being."
From there, Holtby took a young Oleksy under his wing in Hershey, where both started out amid the NHL lockout. He did the same thing when both eventually made their way up to Washington full-time.
With the Capitals, Oleksy said he leaned heavily on Holtby. They'd play catch together before games, get coffee together and for Oleksy's first road trip, it was Holtby who drove him to the airport — and didn't let Oleksy stop for snacks because there was already a spread of food on the plane.
Holtby also introduced Oleksy to the fashion side of hockey, but most importantly, told him what it meant to be a professional hockey player.
"A lot of who I am is him, and you know, he was never defined by hockey, which I respect him for the most," Oleksy said. "He played hockey; it was a job. He put everything he could into it, but it never defined him. He didn't treat anybody at you know outside of the rink differently. He wasn't better than anybody. He would go home and play his guitar. He's a person.
"Unfortunately, especially at the lower levels, you see guys who are kind of defined by the sport. And he was a guy that led me in the direction to to enjoy it, because there's so much more to life outside of it as well."
The two still keep in touch, though Holtby isn't too tapped into phones.
That said, Oleksy always reminds him when he can of just how much of an impact he had.
"I am who I am today because of Braden Holtby," he said.
Steve Oleksy recently joined Sammi Silber on That's DC Hockey for The Hockey News. The full episode is coming soon.