Two weeks ago, Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman interviewed Canadian singer-songwriter Dallas Green of the band City and Colour on their podcast, 31 Thoughts.
Green talked about his friendship with Braden Holtby and told a story about the time he went to see Holtby play with the Capitals against Nashville.
“I don’t know if he’d like me telling this story,” Green said, “but I’ll tell it anyway.”
Holtby let in six goals and got pulled in the middle of the second period. After the game, Green went down to visit his friend and the Capitals netminder shrugged off his performance, saying “Ah that’s hockey. You win some, you lose some.”
According to Friedman, Green added that there was “a better story about their friendship, but we’d need Holtby’s permission to tell it.”
Friedman got that permission.
In Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column, Holtby shared that story.
I don’t know if my wife (Brandi) is going to be mad at me for telling everyone this,” [Holtby] smiled. “My wife and I, when we first met had that common ground of City and Colour. We were big fans. I kind of took a shot in the dark and asked [Dallas] if he’d play ‘The Girl’ for me and record it [so] I could play it at our Cup party for Brandi. I think that’s one thing that gets forgotten in all this is the support we get from our families and especially our wives and our kids…. They took on a lot to go through that playoff run. We weren’t being the best fathers or husbands because we were busy, and when we were home we were sleeping. I just wanted to find a way to say thank you.
The lyrics from part of the first verse of the song are particularly sweet.
I wish I could do better by you
Cause that’s what you deserve
You sacrifice so much of your life
In order for this to workWhile I’m off chasing my own dreams
Sailing around the world
Please know that I’m yours to keep
My beautiful girlWhen you cry a piece of my heart dies
Knowing that I may have been the cause
If you were to leave
Fulfill someone else’s dreams
I think I might totally be lost
You can hear the full song here.
Headline photo: Brandi Holtby
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