Cutting’s edge is volunteer work

CUTTING.

BRACEBRIDGE — Helping others off the ice is Keevin Cutting’s way of staying sharp as a leader on the ice.
The Owen Sound Attack player says that burying himself in volunteer work has helped prepare him to take on the challenges of his fourth OHL season. Originally from Bracebridge, Cutting was first drafted to the Attack as a defenceman in 2008.
In his downtime, Cutting volunteers as a motivational speaker for students at elementary schools in and around the Owen Sound area. He first heard about the chance to volunteer through Dave and Doris Lang, his billets in Owen Sound.
“We talk about bullying and times where we might have been bullied when we were kids, because they (students) kind of look up to us and they might not think that we were bullied when we were kids,” said Cutting. “Also, (we talk about) the sacrifices of making your goals in life, what we had to do in order to play in the OHL.”
Cutting also helps out with certain classes at Notre Dame, a Catholic School in Owen Sound.
“I help out a Grade 6 class with their reading period and gym class, once, twice or sometimes three times a week, depending on my schedule,” he said. “It’s really rewarding, it makes me feel like a better person.”
Since he began as an OHL rookie four years ago, Cutting has become a team veteran whom newer players are now looking up to. Though the Attack captured first place in the OHL Midwest division last season, the team’s lineup has since changed.
“We have a lot of new recruits and new rookies, and I definitely (play) a big leadership role on the team,” he said. “We have several first-year players and I’m just pretty much pulling them along the way and guiding them — it’s definitely a new aspect of my role this year.”
Speaking to eager young listeners has more than prepared him to serve as a role model on the ice.
“It helps a lot for my role in having to lead, because they look up to me — the little kids at the schools,” he said. “It definitely helps me in the dressing room; it makes me a lot more capable of doing my leadership roles and job, and it makes it a lot easier to help the young rookies along the way.”

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