Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby is the NHL’s reigning Vezina Trophy winner. Off the ice, he’s also the Caps LGBTQ-inclusion ambassador, serving as a leader in the locker room and in the community on diversity, equality, and inclusion.
Thursday afternoon, Holtby debuted a new Hockey is for Everyone-themed mask at practice, which features You Can Play and HIFE logos. The Holtbeast will wear the bucket Friday night against the Edmonton Oilers as part of Hockey Is For Everyone Night.
“It’s something I believe in and something my family believes in,” Holtby said in an interview published by the Capitals. “The inclusion of others no matter what they can or can’t control, everyone is on a level playing field. You should be judged on your personality, your moral ground, not anything else.”
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Braden Holtby describes his #HockeyIsForEveryone themed mask. Bid and take it home tomorrow →https://t.co/QI1a7OKVbc pic.twitter.com/uYLIEtYIwW
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 23, 2017
“[I] didn’t want it to be too flashy, still wanted it to be Capitals based,” Holtby said of the design. “I think that goes with the inclusion that it kinda blended in with our team and what we believe in here. So, you have the You Can Play logo on one side and Hockey Is For Everyone on the other and the basic Caps logo. Very simple and to the point. You know, with the goalie masks it can get cluttered a lot. I wanted to make sure you could see the two logos.”
The mask is currently up for auction on the team’s handbid page.
“Hopefully we can raise a bit of money,” Holtby said. “Most of it will go to the You Can Play project. Patrick Burke is doing an amazing job there and it’s always good to help him out because he’s a truly great person and doing a lot of good.”
“It is a great month put on by the NHL,” Holtby concluded. “I think it has been received fairly well, doing a lot of good, a lot of different walks of life and I just wanted to do my part.”
.@Holts170 rockin' the #HockeyIsForEveryone mask at practice today. Bid on it here: https://t.co/QI1a7OKVbc pic.twitter.com/e4tiEtxFC3
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 23, 2017
