Dual role for US import
DUNEDIN Thunder import Easton Oliver expects to be both teacher and student during his stint in the city.
The 26yearold Texan has signed with the Dunedin Thunder for the season and the defenceman is expected to make a big impact in the league.
He arrived in New Zealand last month after playing professionally for the past two years in the United States where ice hockey enjoys a much higher profile.
He is ‘‘not driving a Ferrari’’ but the mechanical engineer does scratch out a living from the sport, although the decision to spend the offseason in New Zealand was more about the experience and the chance to improve his skills in an environment in which he will have a leadership role.
Oliver heard about the team through former Thunder import and countryman Brandon Contratto, and made contact with the franchise earlier this year.
‘‘This is our offseason and I find it better to train with people in a competitive atmosphere rather than go to the gym and work out or skate on my own,’’ he said.
Oliver played for the New Yorkbased Brewster Bulldogs in his rookie year in the Federal Hockey League and then headed to Illinois to play for the Danville Dashers last season.
The Dashers won the league and Oliver was named as one of two denfencemen of the year.
‘‘We broke the regularseason record for points and won the championship, so it was a good season,’’ he said.
Oliver did not feature in the Thunder’s preseason games, so when he hits the ice tonight it will be his first competitive outing with his new team.
‘‘We’ve been practising three times a week and you start gelling in that sense but it is different to game time. We’ll find out this weekend.’’
Easton, who is doing some work for Dunedin engineering company Zoom Tech, describes himself as ‘‘a stayathome defenceman’’ who takes ‘‘care of the house’’.
He will need all that defensive ability in the opening round. The Thunder has a difficult firstup assignment. It hosts the West Auckland Admirals in backtoback fixtures.
Traditionally, the Admirals have been one of the weaker sides in the league but they have been boosted by the arrival of some disgruntled Swarm players.
They got their season under way late last month with 73 and 140 wins against the Swarm, so they shape as one of the early favourites this season.
Backtoback champion, the Queenstownbased Stampede, is also looking strong. The Stampede beat the Canterbury Red Devils 61 and 74 on its home ice.
Oliver watched an AdmiralsSwarm fixture and felt the game was played at a good pace.
‘‘Coming over here I didn’t think ice hockey would be too competitive but it has definitely trumped the expectations I had.
‘‘When you come into a situation like this, I wouldn’t say you are expected to score a lot, but you are expected to be part of the play a lot. And my style back in the States is not scoring, so I will be learning to fill a different role than what I’m used to.
‘‘I’ll be learning from these guys while they are learning from me. It’s a twoway street.’’