1977-78 O-Pee-Chee 34 Randy Holt Hockey Card (Front)
1977-78 O-Pee-Chee 34 Randy Holt Hockey Card (Back)
1977-78 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist
Card Notes
One of the Black Hawks’ fine selections in the 1973 amateur draft, he has shown flashes of brilliance the past 3 seasons. Spent most of pro career at Dallas perfecting his style of play.
Randy’s last amateur club was Sudbury Wolves.
En Français
Un des bons choix des Black Hawks au repêchage des amateurs de 1973, il a eu des bons moments durant les 3 dernières saisons. Ce défenseur a surtout joué pour Dallas.
Les Loups de Sudbury furent son dernier club amateur.
Details
Randy Holt certainly had a style and he certainly perfected it with the Dallas Black Hawks in the Central Hockey League. In 1974-75, he led the league with 411 penalty minutes, a massive 167 PIM advantage over the next competitor. Holt added a whopping 86 more minutes over just ten playoff games as the Black Hawks reached the final before falling to the Salt Lake Golden Eagles.
It never really worked out for Randy with Chicago, appearing in just 36 games over his first three years with the NHL club. After playing just six games to start 1977-78, Holt was shipped to the Cleveland Barons in exchange for Reg Kerr. With the Barons, he got a regular spot, appearing in 48 games to finish the campaign.
Holt would never really find a steady job in the National Hockey League and bounced from team to team. Between 1974-75 and 1983-84, he appeared in 395 regular season and 21 playoff games in the NHL with the Blackhawks, Barons, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings, Calgary Flames, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers.
67 PIM Record
He is, of course, known for his spot in the NHL record books. On March 11, 1979, the Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers engaged in a bloodbath at the Spectrum. In all, Holt’s Kings were handed 186 minutes in penalties while the Flyers received 194 PIM. Randy set what is probably an unbeatable NHL record with 67 of those minutes. The mark blew away the previous record of 48 set by Jim Dorey.
It all went down over a 5:02 span at the end of the first period. Holt started things off with five for fighting and a ten minute misconduct at 14:58 when he tangled with Frank Bathe of the Flyers. At the end of the period, Holt and Bathe jumped out of the box to engage again. This time, a whole lot more came to the dance.
By the time the teams got to their dressing rooms, Holt was assessed another fighting major, along with a ten minute misconduct and three game misconducts. In all, there were ten fighting majors handed out at the end of the first period.
As for the actual hockey game, Philly beat L.A. 6-3 with Reg Leach scoring the winning goal early in the third. Marcel Dionne scored his 50th of the season midway through the third period.
Randy Holt Junior Career
It was like something out of Stompin Tom Connors song, a Pembroke boy who loved to fight and played for the Sudbury Wolves (on probably many Sudbury Saturday Nights). Holt played OHA Junior A (OHL) hockey for three seasons from 1970-71 to 1972-73. His first two years were with the Niagara Falls Flyers. That version of the Flyers was moved to Sudbury for the 1972-73 season.
In 1972-73, Randy’s 294 penalty minutes placed him second in the league, ten behind leader Bob Neely of the Peterborough Petes and well ahead of third place Denis Potvin of the Ottawa 67’s. Holt also provided offense with 49 points in 55 games from the blue line. A couple other players of note on that Sudbury team include Eric Vail and Dale McCourt.