Mike Dalhuisen: For Bolzano, his family and a dead friend

Half a dozen ice hockey sticks in one hand, a fully packed rolling suitcase in the other and a gigantic duffel bag on the broad back. When the HCB's foreign puck acrobats get off the plane in midsummer and are driven by a club bus to their new (or old) place of work in Bolzano, it's always a little adventure - and a logistical challenge. Mike Dalhuisen didn't have this problem. He didn't travel to his new job in the summer by plane, nor by car. No, the defensive colossus drove his camper to South Tyrol.

“During the Corona period, I bought a vehicle that used to function as a mobile dental practice,” says Dalhuisen enthusiastically. “I then converted this car into a mobile home. Since then, I have been traveling through various countries with my friend Ira and my little dog.” Of course, this passion doesn’t come from nowhere. “I'm Dutch, so a motorhome is almost a must.” It's hardly surprising that with these words, for once, it's not Dalhuisen's striking Movember mustache that catches the eye, but rather his mischievous smile.

Enjoy the South Tyrolean mountains: Mike Dalhuisen.

Dalhuisen's camper has been parked in front of his apartment in Eppan since August. And since August, the Dutchman has been parking his muscle body, which weighs just over 100 kilograms, in front of the HC Bozen housing. The 33-year-old defender embodies exactly what the Bolzano fans want to see. He plays uncompromisingly, hard, sometimes exudes a fearsome aura on the ice, he is a leader in defense with his commands and is also one of the best plus-minus players on the team. But it is above all Dalhuisen's exciting, sometimes moving past that makes him an unusual HCB player.

The family gave up their lives for his dream His father, the very open Dalhuisen says after a training session in the locker room in Bolzano, has always been an ice hockey fan. And so Mike, who was little at the time, also tried his hand at this sport. He quickly took a liking to it, but there was a problem: Dalhuisen is Dutch, he comes from Nijmegen on the border with Germany. So where football or swimming are popular, but not ice hockey. “I always give my all because I know that my parents and my sister gave everything for me.” Mike Dalhuisen “When I was seven or eight years old, I attended ice hockey camps in Canada. The coach there finally told my father that I was talented. In order to become a professional, I would have had to leave my homeland and move to North America,” said the HCB defender. Then something happened that would shape Dalhuisen's life - and something he says he had never heard of before. “My family moved to Canada with me. So everyone gave up their whole life in the Netherlands so that I could make my dream come true. That is still my greatest motivation to this day: I give my all at every training session and every game because I know that my parents and my sister gave everything for me.”

Can also do a good job: Mike Dalhuisen. © VANNA ANTONELLO

Dalhuisen, whose father is a global entrepreneur, spent the second part of his childhood in Ontario, Canada and actually made it to the professional level, even if he didn't get his big break in North America. He played 12 times in the AHL before moving back across the pond. “I was tired of hockey in the United States because I was mainly sent to the ice for the fights. I sometimes had 25 fistfights a season. But I wanted to enjoy the game itself more again,” said Dalhuisen, who was much more successful in Europe and won the title in Denmark and last year in the ICE Hockey League with Salzburg.

Two strokes of fate Mike Dalhuisen's career and life are also marked by strokes of fate. “When I was 18 years old, my mother died of cancer. That was a hard time. I also lost my best friend, Bryan Rufenach, when I was a teenager. During a vacation in Switzerland, he climbed onto a train after going out and wanted to take a photo, but received a fatal electric shock. Bryan was also an ice hockey player, a very talented one at that,” regrets Dalhuisen, who wears the number 89 in memory of his friend. “I know that life is short. That’s why I try to savor every moment.” Mike Dalhuisen It is also these episodes that shape Dalhuisen's way of thinking today. “I am someone who finds great joy in the little things. A beautiful view, a cute dog, a small child who laughs: these are things that bring me joy and from which I generate energy. I know that life is short, so I try to make the most of every moment,” explains the Dutchman, who has a big fan. “My grandma is now 88 years old and she comes to watch one of my games every year. She has also been to Bolzano,” enthuses the family man.

Family man: Mike Dalhuisen and his girlfriend Ira.

So warm-hearted, so harmonious, so profound - that's a stark contrast to what you're used to from the defensive colossus in his sporting work. “On the ice I'm a crack who does everything to win. I'm a different person outside of it.” Winning is the right keyword for the obligatory final question. Does HC Bozen have what it takes to win the big pot this year? In the 20-minute conversation, Mike Dalhuisen had always answered extremely wordily, in detail and thoroughly. This time he only counters sparingly: “Yes, no question.”

ICE Regular Season ICE	SP	TV	P
1. Klagenfurt	47	183:101	102
2. Fehervar	46	146:126	89
3. Salzburg	46	142:107	87
4. HCB South Tyrol	46	137:125	76
5. Linz	46	146:116	75
6. Villach	46	155:136	74
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Mike Dalhuisen: For Bolzano, his family and a dead friend

When Mike Dalhuisen goes for a check, things can get uncomfortable for the opponent. Since this season, the defensive edge at HC Bozen has been touching concrete. About an ice hockey career that was extraordinary, exotic, stormy, but sometimes also sad.

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