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Rye Looking to Follow in Role Model's Footsteps at Championships

By Jake Brannen , 03/22/22, 1:30PM EDT

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Raiders goalie ready to compete for #RedHats

Easton Rye was inspired to play goal by Andrew D’Agostini and the former Toronto Marlies netminder has remained a role model for him ever since.
 
The Ajax-Pickering Raiders goaltender is hoping to follow in D’Agostini’s footsteps next month and be selected during the Ontario Hockey League draft. First, he’ll lead his U16 AAA club into the Ontario Minor Hockey Association’s championships this weekend, ready to display the same determination as his idol.
 
“Through all the hills and valleys, he’s just continued to work, and I admire that,” said Rye. “It just shows if you have a passion and set your mind to it, no matter what happens you can still outwork everything that’s around you.” 

D’Agostini was playing U16 AAA when the two first crossed paths and “as soon as I met him, I knew I wanted to be a goalie,” recalled Rye.
 
Over time he came to admire D’Agostini’s work ethic and involvement in the community, where he founded the charity Saves 4 CF in 2011 to raise money for children with Cystic Fibrosis. One dollar for every save a participating team makes is donated to the charity and in total he has raised roughly $100,000. 
 
Undrafted after five seasons with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes, D’Agostini played two seasons for the University of Guelph before bouncing around in the ECHL. He appeared in 14 games for American Hockey League’s Marlies last year and another this year before being released.

Rye’s been a main contributor to Ajax-Pickering’s success this year, helping the Raiders finish first in Series B of their ETA bracket, qualifying them for the championship. 
 
The Raiders (17-8-2) finished third in the ETA regular season, with Rye starting 17 of the 27 games and posting a 1.50 GAA with four shutouts. 
 
Rye’s father had him on skates in their small backyard rink in Oshawa as soon as he could walk. He began playing hockey in in Clarington and tried out for the U7 team in Oshawa as a player and was cut. Luckily, there was a second team where he tried as a goalie and made the team.

“No matter what position I was playing I was always back end, up close to the crease,” he said.
 
Rye has taken after D’Agostini as a hard worker himself. 
 
His team has two games, two on-ice practices and one dry land practice each week, plus training twice a week on his own. He is also an excellent student – Rye is ahead of his age group and will only need three credits next year to finish high school, while most students his age will still need to finish both Grade 11 and 12. 

The ultimate goal for Rye is to have a long-lasting career in the NHL but he is keeping his options open. If hockey doesn’t work out his backup plan is to pursue a career in engineering. He has been invited to the OHL combine and has been in contact with scouts from multiple teams. Rye has heard he will be drafted in the top five rounds, but his personal goal is to be drafted on the first day which lasts three rounds. 
 
Looking ahead to the OMHA Championship, Rye feels his team has a good chance and has been playing well coming off four straight wins in the playoffs. They will be the third seed in a division that includes the top two teams in the SCTA, the Niagara North Stars (21-1-1), and the Halton Hurricanes (14-3-7). If they finish top two in their division, they could end up facing the Quinte Red Devils (23-0-3) who were undefeated in the regular season. Rye views them as their biggest competition as Quinte won the previous two matchups in the regular season, including a 15-1 win at the beginning of February. 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jake Brannen is a student in the Sport Journalism program at Centennial College. Follow him on Twitter @jakebrannen42


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