Submitted photo / Michigan Photography. Former Phantom and current Michigan defenseman plays in a game this season.

No matter what has happened in his life, Steven Holtz has always found a way back to the ice.

There’s been a laundry list of obstacles that have stood in the path of the former Youngstown Phantom and current Michigan Wolverine, but Holtz has always found a way to overcome adversity.

When some of the hills in his way have been so high, why keep coming back?

“I play it because I love it. Because I enjoy it and have fun,” Holtz said. “That’s why you play hockey, right? You kind of take a step back and you ask yourself, ‘Why do I continue playing? What are the pros? What are the cons?’ And the pros of enjoying the game, being with your best friends, doing it for the passion and for the love of the game as if you’re a little kid again. I think that’s what drives me to continue to keep playing every year.”

The biggest obstacle came during the 2022-23 season, his junior year. After playing zero games as a freshman, and just 11 as a sophomore before suffering a season-ending injury against rival Ohio State, he thought he was poised for a breakout year.

In some ways, he was right. But his successes didn’t come easy.

Holtz not only stared death in the face but the blueliner who prided himself on being a guy who could shut down the toughest of opponents did it off the ice as well. Death blinked, Holtz didn’t.

What Holtz now calls his “accident” turned out to be adenovirus. Holtz suffered from extremely uncommon symptoms such as multiple seizures, a coma and memory loss. He said the past two years were almost entirely wiped from his mind.

He had trouble speaking, and after leaving the hospital, everything, even the most familiar things in his life, felt foreign. That semester, Holtz finished his courses with incompletes, rendering himself ineligible. It was going to be a long way back, in more ways than one.

But three months later, Holtz made his return to the ice.

“To be honest, I don’t think I really realized the severity of what happened,” he said. “I was almost kind of in a different world. I didn’t really realize what had happened or what I was dealing with fairly. I kind of just went about my ordinary life and tried to get back as soon as possible. It didn’t really seem like anything too crazy in my eyes. I know it may sound a little weird, but it just seemed like as if I was in summer taking a few months off and I’m trying to get back to and in game shape.

“It was pretty normal of a problem for me to face and another roadblock that I got to try and find a way around, so I think that’s a good mindset to have. Honestly, I’m happy I didn’t really know what the heck happened. I was kind of content with not really knowing, not asking too many questions, just focusing on what’s ahead of me and then my goal which was to play in that outdoor game.”

Holtz surpassed a goal of returning for Michigan’s outdoor game against Ohio State in Cleveland on Feb. 18 and was in the starting lineup for Michigan’s Feb. 3 contest against Wisconsin.

He had overcome a multi-front battle, in both the classroom and on the ice.

Once Hotlz started working his way back, and things started to come back to him, he said the process was quick.

“Our trainers here on the medical staff, Joe Maher and Brian Brewster, they’ve been unbelievable for me,” Holtz said. “I spent a lot of time with them during that time, trying to get back in the game shape, both mentally and physically. Just putting in extra hours riding the bike, going out on the ice by myself, kind of screwing around with the puck trying to get a feel for things again. It was just another problem, another roadblock in my way and I just approached it with hard work and putting in extra hours. I was eating a lot. I lost a lot of weight, that was a problem too, but it was just like anything in life, hard work.”

Holtz suited up for Michigan in the outdoor game. Then, Holtz played hero in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. After forcing overtime with 23 seconds left against Wisconsin, the Wolverines went into the extra frame with a full head of steam.

With the lanes clogged and chaos in front of the net, Holtz took a shot and scored the biggest goal of his career.

Michigan won the series, the Big Ten tournament and then made it to the Frozen Four before losing to eventual national champion Quinnipiac.

There have been multiple times when Holtz could have gotten off this ride and hung up his skates.

PREVIOUS CHALLENGES

Even before playing a game in Youngstown, Holtz was considering post-hockey life and planned on playing golf in college instead of hockey.

The overwhelming pressures of scouting and college offers had sapped his passion away and he was ready to give it all up. He stuck it out for his parents’ sake, and without those thoughts clouding his brain, Holtz was reinvigorated.

His supposed swan song season with Compuware 18U AAA was his best yet, and it caught the attention of the Youngstown Phantoms and the USHL. While going into the year expecting it to be his final year, Holtz’s hockey journey wasn’t over just yet.

As a 20th-round selection in the USHL Phase II Draft, Holtz didn’t expect to make the team in Youngstown. He was prepared to give it one last try though.

Holtz impressed then-coach Brad Patterson and staff, and the White Lake, Mi. native earned a roster spot.

His plans to call it a career took a backseat, and in his first season with Youngstown, Holtz helped the Phantoms reach their first-ever Clark Cup Finals.

With that came college offers, and the two biggest things Holtz was looking for were a hockey program, and a great engineering school. Michigan was the only school that checked both boxes. However, Holtz had to spend one more season in Youngstown before making the jump.

When that time came, Holtz was ready to make the jump. However, Michigan wasn’t ready for Holtz yet and wanted him to stay in the USHL for a third season.

That’s not something that appealed to the blueliner. As much as he enjoyed Youngstown, he was ready to be back in school. So, Holtz re-opened his commitment and asked for a trade from Youngstown.

The trade never came, but Holtz found his new home up north to Penticton, British Columbia. While Holtz wasn’t initially eager about a third season of junior hockey, the Penticton Vees of the BCHL looked to be a great opportunity to reset.

Plus, the scenery was a solid bonus.

It’s a beautiful place. It’s a hell of a place to not only play hockey but just to visit and to live in general,” Holtz said. “I kind of sprouted, really came out of my shell. I was your typical, shut-down defenseman and I was able to produce a decent amount of points there.”

After a successful season with the Vees that led to the largest scoring output of the defenseman’s career (8 goals, 19 assists, 27 points), colleges came calling once again.

Namely, Michigan.

While Holtz could’ve spurned the Wolverines, there’s no way he could say no.

“I said to myself ‘If someone has the guts to recruit you twice, obviously they want you there’ and with Michigan being my dream school, I think there’s no way I was turning that offer down. So it was pretty easy for me to recommit back to Michigan,” Holtz said.

Despite planning on ending his hockey career seven years ago, Holtz, who is approaching the end of his time in college, doesn’t have a plan. He’s always put his education first, but for the next few weeks, helping his school win a national title is a high priority as well. After everything Holtz has been through, the balancing act is the easy part.

“I’m in a tough spot because I’m very passionate about my schooling. I think it’s very important for us athletes to have a backup plan,” Holtz said. “From personal experience, you’re one injury away from never playing again, so I think it’s so important to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that we were given, especially at a school like Michigan, with the academics and the athletics, both being of such high quality.

“But I haven’t really thought about it. I haven’t really taken action, I’m kind of just taking it day by day, trying to focus on what I have right now ahead of me, which is the Frozen Four, and I’m just doing what I can to make what could potentially be my last season a memorable one. I’ve got a lot of thinking to do when the season is over and a lot of stuff to figure out.”

Holtz and the Wolverines make their push for their first national title game appearance since 2011 tonight against former Phantoms Jacob Fowler (2021-23) and Jack Malone (2017-19, 2020-2021) and Boston College.

Have an interesting story? Contact Brian Yauger by email at byauger@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @_brianyauger.