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The Ryerson Rams men's hockey team have had quite a strong start to their 2018 19 season. They are currently first in the West and are well on their way to making the playoffs for an eighth consecutive season. At the heart of their success is team captain Alex basso. He's the ram star defenseman, who's currently tied for fifth in the UAE and points. When he first joined the Rams in 2014. He had finished his AHL career without getting drafted by an NHL team. He came to Ryerson when the program was a shell of what it was to become, he knew there was an opportunity to make the environment better.

0:46  
I think, at that moment, when I was being recruited and coming here, the team still lacked identity. I mean, there was a new building and the team was always kind of holistically they kind of, they didn't really have a culture that was like, built on excellence, at least the hockey program, I think it was a lot of like, you get one or two good players that would come in and they would they would be competitive and come in like fourth or fifth. And I mean, previously years, they weren't, they weren't that good. But there is always an issue of like school mix with community engagement mixed with hockey, I don't think like, there wasn't that holistic ability to meet all those criteria, which is why you come to universities that develop the whole person, and not just the honest part. So I think I was just, I wanted to see where I could impact the most. So here I think was was the best opportunity for me to play a lot on the ice, but also kind of change a culture, which I think we've done so far.

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Since joining the Rams, he's had success both on and off the ice. He has consistently been one of the Rams top scores, including a career high 28 points last season, head coach Johnny Dooku, has been able to witness firsthand bosses development at Ryerson. He says basketballs value to the team goes far beyond his honest contributions. Well,

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I mean, there's no question in his work ethic, whether it's in the gym, in academics, in his community, you know, on the ice, he brings nothing but 100% effort all the time. And, you know, he's a bit of a quiet leader, but he leads by example. And I think, you know, as he's emerged here, as a, as a young leader, he's he's gotten more vocal, and you know, he's gotten more involved, you know, within the team in the room holding guys accountable. But, you know, their main reason we chose him at the time was, you know, he's an elite player, but he's an elite person that does things the right way on a daily basis. And, you know, with his extreme work ethic, we felt that, you know, it was a no brainer named him Captain

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basso is currently in its final season for the Ryerson RAMs, and he's finishing up his master's degree in the business administration program. At the end of this season, he has a difficult decision awaiting him, either continue with his professional hockey career, or enter the workforce upon graduation.

3:12  
I always wanted to be realistic with myself and my abilities and my future and try not to be emotional and decisions and think, as a player, the more options you have, it's kind of tougher, in a sense, because you've got your friends telling you certain things and your coaches telling you certain things. And you have like, obviously, people calling you and saying, Can you come here for the tryout or come here, we want you to play here. And it's easy to get emotional and distracted. And that was something I never wanted, was something for me to make a decision based on emotion and regret it. So I think I've been pretty happy with everything I've decided, because I've all I've made it through kind of more assessing the situation than being emotional about it. So yeah, so I think it's tough to not fall into that to fall. It's tough to not fall into that trap for sure.

4:18  
That also isn't the first Rams player to have to go through this tough decision. At the end of his career. There have been numerous cases of graduating players having to go through this life altering decision. One of those was Louis George, a former goalie for the Rams. After graduating in 2013. George grand pro to play in the federal Hockey League for three seasons. He retired from hockey in 2017 and went on to form an online company but has no regrets with how things turned

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out. For me, I was doing it all along. It is it is tough, and you know there's you know, there's a lot of people that want to do it. The competition is pretty fierce. So It is a tough decision. But for me, I was gonna do it the whole the whole time the whole way.

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Another former player, Stuart eel also went through this exact same process himself. When he graduated from Ryerson in 2009, he made the decision to enter the workforce right away.

5:19  
Well, time I was a little bit already graduated believe I was 25. You know, I made a decision whether or not I wanted to go down to the states and, you know, ride coach bus for 20 hours a week or two small town USA and slugging you know, for, you know, five $600 a week. Whereas, you know, here I could start a career start making some real money. You know, because the friends and family and search they're building for a professional career, so to speak,

5:55  
ask basso he has yet to decide on where he will end up after Ryerson. The option to go pro is very tempting. He has attended training cans for numerous NHL teams in the past few years, including the Washington Capitals, the Minnesota Wild and the New York Rangers even got to try it off or with the Toronto Marlies in early September. Still, he also recognizes that going pro isn't a guarantee, which is why he's being careful with his decision. They're kind of

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stressful, in a sense, because it kind of tears you tears you apart. Whereas you always forgot about, you thought the dream forgot about you, and then it kind of pulls you back in. So you're kind of like a emotional complex a little bit. So you kind of have to battle with that, in a sense that you're not sure if you want to stop playing and start working, or do you want to play professional for a bit and seeing what's realistic for you, because I always tried to be like, realistic with myself and my abilities and seeing what's the best for me. So it's always flattering, and to be able to go to those things and experience it. And I think now I kind of am moving away from relying on those tryouts or those offers to kind of feel my confidence and, and make myself feel good. That also

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may have unique circumstances. But what he is going through is nothing new duco, George and eel each offer their own piece of advice to help out. So it is important decision.

7:32  
You know, when things don't go? Well, we'll talk about just, you know, staying positive and joining the moment, you know, you're you're still a university student playing a kids game, you know, getting your education and, you know, having a lot of fun doing it. So enjoy it. And,

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you know, you'll

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look back 10 years from now, and you know, wish you were still in this situation. So as hard as it is, and as busy as he is with, you know, doing the MBA and going to school, and, you know, he leads the charge with our community initiatives, and he does an excellent job there. So he's extremely busy, but you know, we just tell him, Hey, enjoy it. Because, you know, one day you'll be like us, and you'll have kids and you'll be busy. And you know, you'll look back on these times with your your teammates, as you know, the best days of your life. And, you know, you wouldn't, you wouldn't want to trade it for anything.

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But I don't know what he what his career would be other than hockey, because that's what really made it easy for me as I was doing it the whole time, no matter what. So I don't know where he's at in terms of his working career. But, you know, he'll figure out if it's something that he wants to do, he should do it because it opens up so many doors. You know, you meet a lot of people and

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the hockey world

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can can take care of you as well, too. It's a way to go to for sure. So he'll figure it out. If

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he if he wants to do it, he'll do it. You know, you want to follow your heart and you don't want to be sent there. No, one's out. What is right, what if I talk to this team? What if I taught here I could be there. Exactly what you want to live your life to

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ask for bass of himself. He plans to simply focus on the season at hand and take it month by month to see where he ends up with school and hockey.

9:17  
I think it's better that way. Because if I say I'm going to go somewhere, commit to playing in Europe next year or commit to not playing next year, something could happen and then I'll be more disappointed and disappointed that I would be so I always just kind of take it month by month and kind of know get my base of what I want to do. So obviously finished my finished my MBA by September and then kind of just figure it out at that point and that kind of stuff. I'm not really worried and I always just wanted to go out on my own terms. That's the only thing like knock on wood. You don't want to get injured and have a career ending injury. I think oh Go out on my own terms at some point and be happy.

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For Dooku at least, he hopes that the rands will give bassel a great two parting gift before his time at Ryerson is up.

10:12  
But I'd love to see us win a championship for him in his last year. I mean, he's, he's been a outstanding ambassador for our hockey program here over the last five years. And, you know, unfortunately, you know, we haven't been able to get by the second round of the playoffs, and I know, he's really driven, you know, to, to have success this year, you know, come postseason. So, you know, for us, you know, we're not going to get caught up in that we're going to try to get better every day. And, you know, he leads the charge and doing that, you'll see he's one of the last guys off the ice for practice every day. And, you know, he'll be one of the last guys to leave the gym. So he puts the work in and sets a great example for, you know, some of our younger guys as to, you know, what it's going to take, if we're, you know, going to get to that next level. And, you know, he doesn't take shortcuts, he doesn't, you know, do things that he's not supposed to be doing. He works hard and comes here and does what's expected of them. And, you know, hopefully that leads to success for the groups.

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No matter what happens next, there's no doubt Alex basso has left quite a legacy as a ramp, and there will be some big shoes to fill once he hangs up his skates for the final time at Ryerson. After that, he will have to face a huge fork in the road with two distinct life paths. He may not be the first to go through this, and certainly not the last, but he has quite a unique circumstance. So what will it be the NHL, or real life now Tabasco himself to choose his own destiny.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai