LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Hudson Fasching has accomplished a lot in his athletic career. But Friday might have been the high point.
Fasching, a Buffalo Sabres prospect, was the self-proclaimed MVP of the winning soccer team during a fun morning away from the rink for the players competing at the USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp.
After beating Sweden and Finland by a combined score of 16-2 the previous two days, the players had earned a break from practice but still wanted to get some kind of a workout in. So after stretching for a bit at the Olympic Training Center, they went next door for a four-team soccer tournament on the field in front of Lake Placid High School.
"It was a lot of fun," Fasching told NHL.com. "Being a summer off day it's fun to be able to play soccer. I haven't played soccer since my sophomore year of high school so it's good to get out and play. Hockey is all of our lives right now. We love the sport, but it's good to get away from it and do something else."
Jack Dougherty (Nashville Predators) finished on the fourth-place team and was one of the players who had to carry the mini-goals back up the hill and back to the Olympic Training Center.
"There's a lot of good players," Dougherty said. "I'm not one of them so it was kind of a struggle. But I just tried to do the best for my team, play some defense, hustle."
Dougherty wasn't one of the better players but he was one of the best dressed. He wore red-and-black high-top sneakers, purple knee-length socks and black tights.
However, Fasching gave his vote to Chase De Leo (Winnipeg Jets) who wore his T-shirt like a cape to go along with the black tights.
"The purple socks are tough but the cape, [De Leo] pulled it off well," Fasching said. "It was good."
Follow Adam Kimelman on Twitter: @NHLAdamK
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