Dustin Gazley will compete in his first world championship. © det

Tireless Dustin Gazley: “I’m not done yet”

Things are slowly getting serious: the Ice Hockey World Championship starts in Bolzano in six days. A lot of eyes will be on Dustin Gazley.

22 April 2024

From: det

The Italian-American doesn't even notice that Dustin Gazley, at 35, is the oldest player in Italy's national team. Neither on the ice, where he dribbles buttons into his opponents' skates with his delicate technique and quick movements. Still off the ice, where Gazley looks young and motivated.

That's why the HC Bozen crack wipes out the rumors that have been making the rounds again in the last few days in one fell swoop. "Stop? No. I am not ready yet. My plan is to keep playing, I still have a few years left in me,” says the offensive artist SportNews in the foyer of the Hotel Sheraton.

Bolzano as a second home

Will this be the fifth time in a row for HC Bozen? “I would like to stay here, Bolzano is like a second home for me and my family. “Let’s see what happens next,” says Gazley. What is certain, however, is that the veteran will play his first World Cup in a few days. For the first time, Gazley accepted an invitation to play for the Blue Team.

Dustin Gazley in the HC Bozen jersey. © Vanna Antonello

“I always wanted to play for the national team, but in the last few years it hasn’t happened. The World Cup in Bolzano is now exactly the right time for me and my family,” says the father, whose four-year-old son goes to kindergarten in Eppan. Last November, Gazley became a father for the second time.

Roots in Sicily

The ice hockey star from Michigan has his Italian roots in southern Italy. “My mother's grandparents come from San Cataldo, a small town in Sicily. But my mom and I were born in the USA,” says Gazley, who now wants to make a splash at his first World Cup. He has shown time and again in the white and red uniform of the HCB that he is a points guarantee and a man for the important games. Now he wants to prove it in the azure blue jersey of Italy's national team.