Doornbosch on unusual hockey career path

When Jamie Doornbosch arrived to play college hockey at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Canada, his teammates wondered why he hadn’t retired yet.

Rarely does a former NHL player return to college, a fact that confused the St. Mary’s players when Doornbosch showed up in 2011 after one game the previous spring with the New York Islanders.

“When I went back, everyone just kind of laughed, joking around that I did it in reverse order,” Doornbosch said. “But it’s cool. Everybody was like, ‘Wow, you already played in the Show, you might as well hang ’em up now.’ But when you get a taste of it, you kind of get that drive to push you to get back.”

Doornbosch’s potential path back to the NHL has begun with the Thunder, for which he has played four games since the 26-year-old defenseman signed this month. He scored his first professional goal in his second game for probably his second-coolest experience in professional hockey.

After Doornbosch’s juniors season completed in the spring of 2011, the NHL’s Islanders were prepared to send him to Rochester of the Triple-A American Hockey League for Doornbosch’s first taste of pro hockey.

But on the day of his assignment, an injury created a need with the Islanders. They summoned Doornbosch as an emergency addition, meaning he could only spend one day on the roster. But what a day it was, his first and only in professional hockey until this month.

“It was a rush for 24 hours,” Doornbosch said. “It was eye-opening for me. …It’s something that you kind of have to know where you are and not be taken in by at all and just be in the moment. You kind of have to play through it and just pretend that you’ve been there for a couple years.”

The Islanders used 42 players that season and called up some who may not have been ready. Doornbosch fit into that group, and during that offseason he did not receive another NHL offer.

So he returned to Canada and enrolled at St. Mary’s, where he planned to earn a Bachelor’s degree in business within three years. But he ended up spending five-plus years at St. Mary’s, playing five seasons of hockey before earning his master of business administration degree at the beginning of this month.

“I was going to go play for three years and learn more of the defensive side of the game,” Doornbosch said. “I was on a three-year plan, and I ended up just really enjoying it out there and understanding the value of an education. I decided to work on my MBA and keep working on my game.”

Doornbosch’s second pro game came on Dec. 9, seven months since his most recent college game and the only game he’s gone scoreless for the Thunder so far. He scored his first goal Dec. 11 and added another Friday night.

He’s restarting his career on a lower rung than before, but the goal is in sight because he has seen it once – exactly once – before.

“I had to introduce myself to the game again and get my legs back and definitely learn some stuff,” Doornbosch said. “I’m pretty sure (the NHL) is everybody’s goal. That’s definitely the goal.”

This story was originally published December 17, 2016 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Doornbosch on unusual hockey career path."