Oddy, John

BORN APRIL 11TH 1975 in Adelaide Australia, eldest son of Steve and Jan, and brother of Greg and Natalie. He developed on the wing in the local Blackhawks club and in 1983 competed in the inaugural Under-13 Championship, the President's Cup, now known as the Ginsberg Trophy, which was held on home ice in Adelaide. In those days his father coached with Rusty Smith and Orville Hildebrand. He returned in 1985 then won the tournament with his state team in 1987, the state's first ever victory in a national tournament. He won the Tange Trophy (U18) at the Canterbury rink in Sydney in 1991. He was the 'Hawks top junior scorer in 1992 and in 1993-4 he attended the Cowichan Valley Capitals camp with Geoff Rains, but both missed out on team selection.

He returned home and played the Brown Trophy (U21) in July 1993, staged in conjunction with the Defris tournament at Blacktown Ice Arena in Sydney. Coached by Rusty Smith, South Australia progressed unbeaten to defeat ACT, 2-1, in the final and snare the Brown Trophy for the first time in its 29-year history. He scored the first goal and won the trophy again in 1994. He won his first Goodall Cup representing South Australia in 1995, played in 1996, then won again as Alternate Captain in 1997, the year he was voted Best Forward and made the All Star Team with Al Becken, Anthony Wilson, Glen Foll, Vlad Rubes, and Cotton Gore.

He was among the honoured players of the Adelaide Avalanche’s first season in 1999, the club his father co-founded with Jim Thilthorpe. He was leading scorer and alternate captain on 25 points (11-14) and sixth overall in the NIHSL, having scored hat tricks in both games against the Sydney Bears, along with a four point outing in Canterbury against the Eagles. His line in the Avs with his brother and Ben Thilthorpe was a constant force in attack during the 1999 season.

That year was also the first of three pro seasons he spent overseas in the Australian off-season with the Peterborough Pirates of the BNL, the only Australian to ever play for the club (1999, '00, '02). He won his third and fourth Goodall Cups back-to-back with the Avalanche in 2000 and 2001, took a break in 2003 and '04, then returned for 7 games in 2005 and retired having averaged just under 2 points a game from 57 games.

He represented Australia three times in the National Men's Team at the 1998, '99 and '02 D-Pool World Championships. Coached by Kelly Lovering and later John Botterill, he led the Mighty Roos scoring for several seasons, winning a silver medal and a bronze. Seven years later in 2012 he played 9 games with the Al Ain Vipers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He is remembered here as a pure goal scorer and a fierce competitor.