It was announced early Wednesday morning that Wildcat hockey had recruited its first player for the 2018–2019 season: Matthew Holh.
Hohl is a native of Fenton, Missouri, a town to the southwest of St. Louis, a growing hockey hotbed.
Hohl has played in the St. Louis youth programs since 2013, growing from Bantam to the Jr. Blues of the NA3HL. While playing on the Jr. Blues, Holh also played all four years on his high school team at St. Louis University High, a highly regarded private Catholic school in the area.
In his final season in the NA3HL, the 6-foot-3, 175-pound defense man tallied 18 points (5,13) in 37 games. In his senior season at University High, he had 25 points (6,19) in 18 games.
In a press release from Wildcat hockey, it was noted that the defensive pair Holh played on did not allow a single goal while they were on the ice in the NA3HL National Tournament.
Arizona head coach Chad Berman, via the same press release, also had this to say regarding Holh:
“Adding a player like Hohl checks all the boxes of what we are looking for in our program … He moves the puck well, makes good decisions and competes at a high level. As a younger kid, we have some work to do in the weight room; once he fills that big frame out, he has all the tools to be a top-caliber defense man in this league.”
Holh is, as of now, the only true freshman on the team and will therefore be the youngest player on the team by over a year in age come the 2018–2019 season. He will turn 19 less than one month before the start of the season.
The right-handed shot will fill in one of three spots on the blue-line that were previously occupied by now graduating Orion Olsen, Sean Ozment and Nick Zellmer. Given Holh’s puck moving abilities, he will likely not be on a pair alongside to-be sophomore Keelan Ulnick, who bears similar assets on the blue line.
Holh committed to Arizona over the path into elite junior hockey. He was drafted by the Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) 204th overall. Holh was cited by UA hockey as saying he chose Arizona because of his want to win a National Championship, as well as a high-quality education.
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