Holt having stellar season with Huskies while working through med school

On the ice, University of Saskatchewan Huskies forward Dawson Holt is in the midst of a career season.

The 26-year-old fourth-year centre has tallied 47 points in 38 games this year, putting him second in the team’s standings. His offensive production helped lead the Huskies to a 12th Canada West title, along with a trip to nationals in Ottawa.

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Holt’s play on the ice has stood out this season, and off the ice his story has been just as positive.

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This year, Holt was accepted into the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine, which is something he said he’s always had a keen interest in.

“A few years ago I was like, ‘OK, I think I’d regret it if I didn’t try to apply.’ My sister’s definitely been a huge role model for me. She just graduated from med school here, so she’s currently working in Saskatoon,” Holt explained.

“My mom as well – she’s a physiotherapist. Just kind of having that exposure to medicine definitely drove the interest for me.”

Holt’s smarts off the ice are well-known. Every year Holt has attended the University of Saskatchewan, he’s been named a U Sports academic all-Canadian.

🚨 HUSKIE GOAL🚨

Dawson Holt moves with medical precision in front of the net to put the Huskies up two with the sweet backhand goal!

Huskies 2
Thunderbirds 0#HuskiePride | #PowerofthePack pic.twitter.com/T4BcrVLUw9

— Huskie Men's Hockey (@HuskieMHKY) March 3, 2025

Holt said he’s enjoying his medical school journey so far, but admitted that all of the schooling combined with playing hockey at a high level can lead to some very long days.

In fact, Holt said he’s so busy at times that he’s has to be excused from practices at times just so he can keep up with the academic demands of med school.

“For the most part, I’m in school from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There’s some days when classes might be recorded, which helps out a little bit. I’m able to to miss those ones and make it to practice, but in situations where we’re not able to make something work around our practice time I skated with the Saskatoon Contacts a little bit,” Holt said.

“The coaching staff has been really good here with kind of allowing me to do what I need to do to stay up in my in my classes, and then also practice when I can.”

But Holt thinks having two major workloads to deal with is actually a good thing for him.

“I kind of think hockey is kind of my escape from school, and then after hockey school’s maybe my escape from hockey. So it allows me to kind of compartmentalize the two things, and I think it helps with preventing me from burning out or getting too busy with one thing or the other,” Holt explained.

“I think in the past I’ve taken taken stuff home from the rink and kind of dwelled on stuff for too long, whether it be a tough game, a loss, whatever it might be,” Holt added.

“I don’t necessarily always have that option now, because I have to do school or study. It definitely allows me to kind of get a break from from one or the other when I’m doing it.”

For now, Holt will be focused on two specific tests: his year-end exams in April and nationals this weekend in Ottawa.

Holt said he’s excited to get to Ottawa to hopefully bring a national title home to Saskatchewan.

“We’re super fortunate to to have the group of guys that we do. It’s not too often you you have such a tight-knit group,” Holt said.

“I think it’s translated a lot to how we’re able to play on the ice. I think of all the good teams I’ve been on, it’s all great people first and we’re just able to come together for a common goal.”

Holt said this will be his first trip to nationals.

“It’s something that a lot of Huskies alumni talk about,” he said. “It was kind of the standard that was set for a significant amount of time.”

Holt and the Huskies begin their quest for a national title on Friday night against Queen’s University.

Puck drop for that game is 5 p.m. local time.