Finding the perfect balance

Marcel Bourdase, the ice hockey team's top returner, splits time between school, work and family but hockey is his highest priority

By Maggie Thach
The Collegian

It has been the focus of his life for as long as he can remember. Now a senior broadcasting major, Marcel Bourdase has his sights on earning his degree this year but the center of his life as a boy is still the center of his life today.

“Hockey takes precedence,” Bourdase said. “I can’t always say that about school or work. I make that the highest priority. It helps me get away from all the stuff from the week.”

But unlike in his younger days, Bourdase has more responsibilities, other things pulling him away from the one thing he would rather do if time permitted.

He has a job as a bank teller at Union Bank of California. He’s finishing his degree and is doing a broadcasting internship co-hosting a show called “The Spot” on 1550 AM. Not to mention trying to spend time with the family, friends and girlfriend who would like to see him more often.

Hockey was such a priority in his life that after high school he chose to leave the people closest to him to play junior hockey in Canada. For the three years he was there, he played from August until December, when he would get two weeks off for Christmas and then go back to hit the ice until mid-March.

“For the first two years [we were dating] he was in Canada,” said Ashlee Thiarito, Boudase’s girlfriend of five and a half years. “He did his own thing and I did mine. It was what we were used to.”

But those summers back from Canada compelled him to change up his priorities, at least for the time being.

“I would work at the ice rink when I came home for the summer,” Bourdase said. “I didn’t want to work like I did and it kind of made me want to go back to school instead of working hard for the rest of my life.”

So Bourdase came back to enroll at Fresno State and found a way to incorporate hockey. On the school’s club ice hockey team, Bourdase has become the go-to player and with so many rookies on the team this year, the one looked to for leadership.

“He brings a lot of knowledge from Canada. Just telling the new players who come in every year what is expected,” said Anthony Dinelo, who has been Bourdase’s teammate since 2002. “Both of us want to make it to a better program but he helps out more with the board in trying to make the school recognize the sport. He puts in time in the off-season, trying to get us in the Save Mart Center and get people more aware of our program. Hockey is such a big part of his life.”

Squeezing hockey into his life has become tougher with 18 units. Twice a week, he has time to devot solely to hockey as he practices from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays but other than that, it’s back to the world of midterms, papers and work. With such little time for hockey, Bourdase makes sure to push himself.

“I can’t always be perfect but just try to play as hard as I can,” Bourdase said. “I’ve had injuries but I have the appreciation for the sport. I don’t take it for granted.”

That appreciation can be attributed to his father, Mark. He took his son out to play hockey when Bourdase was five. Mark was coaching but there were some days when he couldn’t make the games. Without his father, Bourdase refused to take the ice. Wanting his son to play for the right reasons, Mark took him off the ice.

“I didn’t want to relive my life through him,” Mark said. “He had to play because he want to play.”

It would be more than three years before Bourdase could play again. To show his father he wanted hockey in his life, Bourdase played in his driveway two hours after school every day. He would set up his bike against the garage door and pretend it was a goalie.

“I had to beg and plead him to let me play,” Bourdase said. “I think compared to everyone else, it’s given me a different love for the game and desire to play.”

That desire to play has motivated him to take care of business off the ice because he knows once school is done, he has the freedom to pursue his real dream.

“I don’t have to get it done. I really don’t want to go to school but I need to or I can’t play hockey,” Bourdase said. “But I’m at the point where I can see the end of the tunnel.”

But getting his degree isn’t the ultimate goal. It’s the one he’s had since he was a boy.

“I don’t know if my body can hold up. I’m a smaller guy, that hurts me but I want to go pro.” Bourdase said.

“I want to see what my options are overseas. Right now, I don’t know how realistic that is but it’s been my dream since I started playing.”

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