Hollett feeling a lot better a year after mono illness
One year ago, Jordan Hollett was at home and in bed, sick with mononucleosis.
While the Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender shook off the virus and made his debut in orange and black a few weeks into the season, Hollett says the illness plagued his immune system for months to come and prevented him from reaching his full potential in the crease last year.
“It was tough since the illness did sort of keep my immune system down. I had to be really careful the whole year,” said Hollett, who says he’s now feeling healthy and ready to take over the No. 1 spot with the Tigers this season. “I’m just really happy to be coming in here and I feel great. I think last year, for the majority of the year, that was still sort of keeping me a bit tired. Now I feel fully regenerated, I feel really energetic and in practices I’m not finding myself worrying that I can’t stay out too long. I can do all the workouts with the team.”
The 19-year-old Langley product returned to the Western Hockey League from Ottawa Senators camp earlier this week. After hearing his name called in the sixth round of the 2017 NHL draft at 183rd overall, Hollett was forced to sit out last fall’s big league camp due to the illness — making this month’s endeavour his first taste of official training camp.
“It was a lot more fun this year, for sure,” said Hollett. “Obviously it was a little bit nerve wracking since it was my first rookie camp and main camp, but I just built off what I did in development camp (in July), since I had a great one there. I came in with some confidence and just tried to keep it rolling through. I ended up having a great rookie camp and then moved into main camp and did really well there too so it was good.” While he was sent back to the Tigers before exhibition play began, Hollett says he tried to soak up as much experience as he could at Ottawa’s main camp — notably how to transition to the NHL’s vastly higher levels of pace and precision.
“Things are happening a lot quicker. They make smart plays. It’s a bit of a different style than here — they’re making lots more tic-tac-toe plays, more puck possession and a bit more traffic. But the biggest thing is obviously the speed,” said Hollett, who posted an .896 save percentage and a 3.43 goals against average with a 16-13-0-0 record last year. “It takes a little while to get used to but once you get used to it, it’s really just that you’re moving a little bit quicker and you need to be more engaged.”
Hollett and the Tigers open the regular season Friday in Lethbridge against the Hurricanes at 7 p.m. The Tabbies and ’Canes head to the Canalta Centre Saturday to close out a home-and-home set at 7:30 p.m.