COCHRANE — No sentence is great enough for disgraced hockey coach Graham James, said former hockey player Todd Holt, who described the two years his abuser received as “a national travesty.”

In a Winnipeg courtroom on Tuesday morning, James was sentenced to two years in prison for two counts of sexual assaulting Holt and former NHL star Theoren Fleury, while coaching them in junior hockey during the 1980s and early ‘90s. Charges against a third player, Greg Gilhooly, were stayed.

“The sentence today is nothing short of a national travesty because we know childhood abuse has reached epidemic proportions in our country,” Holt, 39, told reporters at a news conference in Cochrane after the sentence came down. Fleury, who is also Holt’s older cousin, had hoped to attend but couldn’t make it.

Holt said he wasn’t surprised by the sentence and respected the judge’s decision.

Read the full statement here.

The Crown had been seeking a six-year prison sentence, while the defence had asked for a conditional sentence with no jail time.

Holt, who was joined by his girlfriend and 17-year old son, said he’s in a good place today, has received “closure” and has “no room for error” toward James. He added, however, that he doesn’t believe James is rehabilitated and fears he will offend again.

Holt urged Canadians to reach out to politicians and lawmakers to change “our weak justice system.”

Kristen Ferguson, Holt’s girlfriend, said she’s proud of him for speaking out. She added she’s pleased with James’ sentence but it’s the abused individuals who pay the price by serving “life sentences” for what they have endured.

James, 59, first gained notoriety when he pleaded guilty in 1997 to sexually abusing Sheldon Kennedy, who also later played in the NHL. James served about 18 months of a 3 1/2-year sentence before he got out of jail in 2000.

He was pardoned by the National Parole Board in 2007. The Harper government has since overhauled the pardon system, banning pardons for those convicted of sexual offences against a minor.

With files from the Winnipeg Free Press

cho@calgaryherald.com