Dauphin's Easton Odut's hockey season continued last week, but not in Dauphin and not even in Canada. He played on Team North America at the 2019 Big Apple Classic (2007 edition) in New York.
Easton got the chance to play in the tournament through the Toronto pro hockey development program. The team ended up winning two games in the round-robin while they tied two games and lost one. That gave them a spot in the quarter-finals on the Championship side. In that game, Easton had two goals, but the team came up short in a 5-2 loss to Team CT BlueStreak.
"It was a lot of fun and it was a great experience. I really want to go back now," said Odut.
They also played against Team Toronto, Team Knights on Broadway and Team St. Pats.
"It was really fun playing against tough teams, it was a good challenge," continued Odut. "One of the rinks was on a pier, so that was really cool."
Easton also got the chance to play with another player from the Parkland. McCreary's, Brady Turko joined Easton for the tournament. Brady ended up with four assists to his name.
"It was great playing with him. We always do well together," said Odut.
Just like Brady had success, so did Easton. He started the tournament off with a bang when he was awarded MVP in their first game. Overall in the tournament, Odut scored five goals and had four assists.
"It felt good to win the MVP because only one is chosen per game," said Odut. "It was for sure one of my good tournaments. Sometimes I have a good tournament and then a bad one, but this one was a good ones."
Playing the game wasn't the only thing Easton did. Alongside his brother Brier, his mom Whitney and dad, Mark, the family got to experience what an NHL dressing room liked it. Dauphin's, Barry Trotz gave his family a tour through the Islanders locker room. They also got to see the team's practice rink.
"It was cool seeing the rink and the dressing room was awesome," concluded Odut. "Barry also gave my brother and me some laces. It was just a great experience."
In the fall, Easton will be a second-year Peewee.
