O’Dell better than ever after heart-hole scare

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This article was published 14/09/2011 (5195 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PENTICTON, B.C. — It can be a lot, maybe even overwhelming, for any Winnipeg Jets prospect not mentally and physically prepared to handle all the uncertainty wrapped in heavy expectations.

But there was centre Eric O’Dell gushing about the whirlwind that has been his last few days, an itinerary that went something like this:

Arrive in Winnipeg last Friday… gruelling fitness testing followed by practice on Saturday… another session Sunday before flying to Kelowna, then busing to Penticton later that night… debut in Jets colours Monday night against San Jose…

And how would the 21-year-old Ottawa product describe it all?

“It’s been a joy,” began O’Dell after Tuesday morning’s practice. “That first game was exciting. I mean, wearing the Jets’ jerseys for the first time and the fans out there… I can honestly say it’s been fun all around.”

Perhaps it’s simply about perspective and not sweating the small stuff, about shaking off one bad shift by serving up two better. And maybe, just maybe, O’Dell has always taken that mature approach to the game.

But it could also be suggested that what he’s been through in the last year has also given him a different outlook on life and hockey.

It was in the spring of 2010, you see, when O’Dell lived through a jarring medical scare that had him initially concerned about whether he would ever play again.

“I just started feeling heart palpitations one day and didn’t know what was going on,” O’Dell explained. “My heart was racing. I wasn’t doing any exercises or anything, I was just walking around or watching TV and my heart was going pretty quick. I knew there was something wrong. I could actually feel my heart banging in my chest.

“It was scary stuff.”

Doctors would discover that O’Dell was born with a small hole in his heart — initial concerns were much more serious — and after a quick procedure that took less than an hour, the necessary repairs were made by a surgeon. The rehab, it turns out, was more extensive as O’Dell was forced to rest for the next six months and also miss his first pro camp last year with the Atlanta Thrashers.

But when he returned to the Sudbury Wolves he was more productive than ever, potting 20 goals and picking up 44 points in the final 39 games of the 2010-11 OHL season.

Oh, and there was one other bonus:

Doctors told Eric that because of the hole in his heart, one half of his ticker was doing most of the work and as a result the organ was only functioning at about 80 per cent capacity.

“Finding out it was just a hole was actually the best thing, because there were a few other things that would have meant I couldn’t have played hockey… ever,” he said. “Getting back to it, getting it all healed up, I feel now that I can last a lot longer.

“I guess I didn’t know what to expect. I thought I had been playing great at 80 per cent. All I know is that going through this, finding out what it was to getting back on the ice… I think it was just meant to be.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait

 

ERIC O’DELL

Centre

Height: 6-foot

Weight: 203

Born: June 21, 1990, Ottawa

Acquired: Trade from Anaheim for Erik Christensen, March, 2009. Originally drafted by the Ducks in the second round, 39th overall, in the 2008 NHL entry draft.

Regular Season Playoffs

Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM +/- GP G A Pts PIM

2007-08 Sudbury OHL 26 14 18 32 19 10 – – – – –

Wolves

2007-08 Cumberland CJHL 34 23 33 56 12

Grads

2008-09 Sudbury OHL 65 33 30 63 55 -11 6 0 4 4 4

Wolves

2009-10 Sudbury OHL 68 33 35 68 63 -16 4 0 2 2 2

Wolves

2009-10 Chicago AHL 3 0 0 0 0 -1 – – – – –

Wolves

2010-11 Sudbury OHL 39 20 24 44 34 -13 8 7 5 12 15

Wolves