Goaltender Hollett greets trade to Tigers with mixed emotions
Jordan Hollett dealt with conflicting sentiments after being traded by the Regina Pats.
“There are mixed emotions,” said the 18-year-old goaltender, who was dealt to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Tuesday. “I’m obviously leaving a lot of good buddies behind in Regina, but I’m really excited to get things started off in Medicine Hat.”
Hollett spent the past two seasons as an understudy to Tyler Brown, who is to man the Pats’ net as a 20-year-old during the 201718 season — which will be capped when Regina plays host to the Memorial Cup tournament.
The emergence of Brown changed everything for Hollett, who was thought to be the Pats’ goaltender of the future.
“Tyler’s a great goalie and me and him were best buddies for the last two years,’’ Hollett said. “He earned all the game time that he got. I’m really proud of him. I always wanted the best for him.
“You always want to have more game time and you always want to contribute as much as you can, but that wasn’t the situation that I was put into. I agreed with that and I was OK with that. I’m excited for the opportunity that I could have with Medicine Hat. I’ve just got to go out and basically prove it.”
Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock felt it was important for Hollett to receive increased playing time, which wasn’t possible in Regina. Paddock made those sentiments clear during an exit interview with Hollett.
“I don’t think you can ever fully expect that something like (a trade is) going to happen,’’ Hollett said. “You always know that there’s a possibility. Every off-season you go into and every time you’re with a team at a trade deadline, anything can happen. It’s just part of the business.”
The Tigers obtained the 6-foot5, 195-pound product of Langley, B.C., in return for 20-year-old centre Matt Bradley — a 34-goal man this past season — and a pair of bantam draft picks (a secondrounder in 2018 and a fifth-rounder in 2019).
Hollett knows the bantam draft routine, having been chosen in the first round (13th overall) by the Pats in 2014.
“It seems like just yesterday when I was watching the draft on my phone, refreshing the page as quickly as I could to see what was happening,” he said. “It’s been a fast couple of years (on the roster), that’s for sure.
“I started getting more involved in the community and more involved in meeting fans. I knew a lot of the fans at the games. You build bonds and you’re hanging out with the guys every day. You get familiar with everybody. There are friendships and people I can call or text whenever I need help. They know that I’ll do the same for them.
“It was a great three years. I’m very excited about it but, then again, I’m very excited looking into the future.”
The excitement isn’t diminished by the fact that, without the trade, he would have been with a team that was guaranteed a Memorial Cup berth.
“It doesn’t bother me too much at all,’’ Hollett said. “It doesn’t mean that you can’t go in with a team and make it there without hosting.”
Hollett had a 25-9-3-0 record, a 3.30 goals-against average, an .892 save percentage and one shutout with the Pats. This past season, he was 15-2-2-0 with a 2.83 GAA, a .901 save percentage and a shutout.
According to Central Scouting, he’s the 15th-ranked North American goaltender for the 2017 NHL draft.