Randy Holt (NHL 1974-1984, Canucks 1978-79) | 4 | D

[Kevin Biestra]

I mentioned elsewhere that through the 1976-77 Quebec Nordiques, three Canucks have a close connection with WHA penalty minutes in a game record holder Paul Baxter (60+ PIMs) but some Canuck fans may not know that we ourselves had as a Canuck the NHL record holder for penalty minutes in a game, Randy Holt (67 penalty minutes on March 11, 1979).

 

Randy Holt played 10 NHL seasons, accumulating 1438 penalty minutes in 395 games on the blueline.  He led the NHL with 275 in 1982-83, and had four seasons in the top 10, including being second in the league with 282 minutes the season he played with the Canucks.

 

Early in his career he was traded straight up for a pretty good player in Reg Kerr.  A few years later he and Bert Wilson were traded for a very good player in Garry Unger (one of the NHL's all time ironmen and over 800 NHL points).  As for the Canucks, we acquired him in the dispersal draft when the Cleveland Barons folded and were no longer a team in the NHL.

 

He also played in the NHL at the same time as his brother Gary Holt.  Another Canuck of around the same vintage Darcy Rota had the same distinction with his brother Randy.  And a few years later our Rich Sutter would be in the league with five of his brothers.

 

 

 

And here is the story of his 67-penalty-minute-game in 1979...

 

March 11, 1979

The toughest player on the Los Angeles Kings, Holt had been acquired midway through the 1978–79 season to add muscle to a skilled Kings team, and was expected to be a factor when the team travelled to Philadelphia to face off against the fearsome Flyers. After picking up a minor penalty early in the first period, Holt fought Philadelphia enforcer Frank Bathe at 14:58 of the first period, picking up 20 minutes in penalties. However, Holt felt that he had been a victim of a cheap shot from Flyers' agitator Ken Linseman earlier in the game, and took it out on Flyer Blake Dunlop when the two came together in the corner. At the end of the first period, the Flyers confronted Holt as he came out of the penalty box, which escalated into a bench-clearing brawl. Although he was only involved in a fight with Flyer Paul Holmgren, who initiated the conflict, Holt was assessed a further 45 minutes in penalties for his actions during the brawl, including a triple game misconduct, bringing his game total to 67, shattering the previous NHL record of 48 set by Jim Dorey in 1968. He was also suspended three games by the league for his actions.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 23 by Kevin Biestra

[Wilbur]

22 GP put Randy Holt on page 46 of my Canucks binder (22-24 games played).  Hard to pick a most impactful player from this group of 9, I'd go with Hedberg or Reid personally.

 

Spoiler

 

Dave Fortier is probably the closest stat comparable.

440	Dave Fortier	D	58	1	3	4	-15	125
440	Tucker Poolman	D	43	1	3	4	3	12
440	Ed Hatoum	RW	26	1	3	4	-14	21
440	Randy Holt	D	22	1	3	4	-1	80

Edited November 25 by Wilbur

[CaptainCanuck12]

I was very happy when the Canucks picked up Holt, since having a 'goon' of this stature was something we had not previously had, but was very important at the time.  Jack McIlhargey was the closest comparable, but I also very much appreciated both Dave Logan and John Hughes during their short tenures with the team.

[Westcoasting]

I am not sure I remember this correctly but I’m pretty sure Holt had a lot of fights, can anyomne else remember this time period?