Braden Holtby grew up on a farm in Lashburn, Sask.
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
When Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby gets his day with the Stanley Cup, there’s a good chance the trophy will make its way to the family farm.
The 28-year old grew up on Holtby Farms, a 6,000-acre grain farm in Lashburn, Sask. The farm also has about 500 head of beef cattle.
As a boy, Holtby’s responsibilities including directing cattle into a shoot for tagging and vaccinations.
The farm is also where he developed his love of hockey.
“I know there were a couple of big storms that hit northern Saskatchewan and he’d say, ‘Let’s go.’ I don’t think he’d have cares if we had to take him there in a tractor, he was getting there,” Holtby’s mother Tammi, told CBC on Saturday.
“I was supposed to be a farmer but that didn’t work out,” Braden said with a laugh during a June 2 visit back to the family farm documented by Sportsnet.
Growing up on a farm provides kids with unique opportunities.
Raising cattle and producing grain teaches kids about hard work and dedication, said Greg Holtby, Braden’s father.
“We have an unfair advantage over a lot of people, raising kids on the farm,” he said during the June 2 segment. “We can have them work with us (and) beside us from day one. We can teach them all how to work and what it takes to be dedicated and make sacrifices along the way.”
Braden and his young family also visit the family farm each summer to teach his children about rural values.
“My oldest loves being at the farm,” Braden said during the visit home. “He likes riding all of the tractors and learning about all the fun farm stuff. We try to teach small town ways about how to work and how to treat your neighbour.”
Holtby isn’t the first Saskatchewan farmer to find his name on the Stanley Cup.
Glenn Hall, who grew up on a farm in Humboldt, Sask. won the Stanley Cup in 1952, 1961 and 1989. And Floral, Sask.’s Gordie Howe won hockey’s top prize four times.
John Locher/The Associated Press photo