Monday afternoon, veteran winger and noted tough guy Scott Hartnell retired from the NHL after 17 seasons with four different clubs.
One anecdote that popped up about Hartnell came from Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby.
In an interview with Tom Gulitti, Holtby revealed that when he was first breaking into the league, Hartnell offered him encouragement and advice as they’re both Saskatchewan natives.
Talking to Braden Holtby for this @NHLAdamK story on him calling Carter Hart to offer encouragement, I asked Holtby if anyone did similar for him when he broke into League and he said Scott Hartnell.https://t.co/mvI24Z9KWC https://t.co/U61RhxNI34
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) October 1, 2018
Holtby on Hartnell (both are from Saskatchewan):
"When I was coming up in the league, he was a veteran guy & he would reach out every once in a while, after my first game or whatever. It means a lot when you’re that young because you look up to those guys when you’re growing up.”— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) October 1, 2018
The anecdote came about because Holtby is continuing that tradition, and offered advice to Philadelphia Flyers goalie prospect Carter Hart.
Hart received a call from Holtby after the gold-medal game at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, a 5-4 overtime loss to the United States.
Holtby and Hart share the same mental strength coach, John Stevenson, and Stevenson was the one who told Holtby to give the young goalie a call.
Hart mentioned the two have an ongoing conversation.
“I don’t really know [Holtby] that well,” Hart said to Adam Kimelman. “I’ll hear from him every now and then, just a text. That’s pretty cool to have a guy like that you can talk to. Entering my first year pro, I was going to talk to him about expectations and about your first year of pro hockey and what it’s about in the transition from junior to pro. I think it’s pretty cool that he’s open to talking about that.”
