By Mohamud Ismail
Three Ryerson men’s hockey players are joining pro-teams. Graduating defencemen Dean Willmott has joined the Brampton Beast of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) while Mark Corbett has joined the Mississippi River Kings of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL).
Second-year forward Domenic Alberga has joined the Greenville Road Warriors of the ECHL. If he plays one game with Greenville, he will be ineligible to play next season for the Rams.
Head coach Graham Wise says the recent movement of Rams players to pro-teams is rewarding, adding the moves are “good for our program.”
But Wise was disappointed that Alberga is leaving. “[He] has decided after two years that school’s not his thing, and he’s going to play pro right now,” Wise said. “As soon as he plays a game, it will affect his CIS eligibility … he will have to sit out a year before he can play a game.”
It would not be an understatement to say that Alberga is nothing short of an offensive beast. In his short time spent here at Ryerson — a mere two years — Alberga has managed to break out and become the Rams’ best offensive player.
Overall, Alberga has scored 36 total goals with Ryerson, along with 39 assists. This totals to 75 points in 53 games with the Rams – 1.69 points per game.
Willmott played his first game with Brampton on Feb. 23 and says he joined the team because he “thought it would be a good fit.”
Willmott played in 103 games for Ryerson, scoring eight goals, 17 assists and adding 55 penalty minutes.
Unlike the aforementioned players, Corbett will be heading to the South Professional Hockey League (SPHL) to play in Mississippi with the RiverKings.
“[I know] they’re in a different league than me, but, my plan is to head down there, and hopefully get called up to the same to the same league they’re in,” said Corbett.
Corbett is much like Willmott in the sense that they are both big defencemen who can provide toughness and grit. Corbett will be joining a RiverKings squad that is currently the fifth best team in the league, with a record of 24-15.
Even though he is leaving the country, Corbett isn’t giving up on the final months of his criminal justice degree. He says he’s spoken to his teachers and they have been very helpful in making sure he can still graduate this spring.
“I wanted to obviously pursue pro-hockey after Ryerson,” Corbett said. “I talked to all my professors, and they all understood. They told me that [they had no problems with it] as long as I got my assignments done.”
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