It was March 26, 2021, and the Ryerson Rams, now known as the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold, were moments away from moving on to the U SPORTS National Championships.

"It was a power play. Zach Shankar ended up walking the line towards the middle and I called for it on my side. He threw it back over and I tried to get it off as quickly as possible, knowing that a defender was coming to front the shot. I was just lucky enough that it found the back of the net," said Kevin Gursoy, who scored the golden goal to send the team to Nationals. It was a moment in time that he would never forget, but for Gursoy, it hadn't always been this way. 

Kevin Gursoy has dedicated his university career to playing for the Bold men's hockey team, and this year, he is back to complete his master's in Business. Reaching this point took years of training, trials, and tests, and it was far from easy. 

Growing up in LaSalle Ontario, hockey was introduced in his life at the young age of three by his dad who also played at a high level. As he moved up the junior hockey ladder, he reached the triple-A level but a decision by his coaches changed everything.

"They traded my rights to Chatham because they didn't see me fitting in with their team, and that stung but it ended up being one of the best things to happen to me," Gursoy said. 

With Chatham, he ended up playing alongside many of his friends and recorded one of his best seasons as a hockey player, which opened up a lot of doors for his junior career. "I got a call from my now agent Francis, and he said, 'I'd like to represent you since you had a good year in Junior B, and I have a contract here in the QMJHL with the Saint John's Seadogs.'"

This opportunity was enticing for Gursoy and his family, and eventually, he signed with St. John, New Brunswick. He moved away from home at the age of 18. Although it was a culture shock, he enjoyed the year he spent with them and got close with his teammates, even going on team-building trips.

"When I got back from that trip I got off the bus, and one guy in the organization said our General Manager Trevor wants to talk to you but I didn't think anything of it. He said he traded me to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. I was definitely stunned like this is for real, this is a business."

Gursoy then spent two seasons with the Seadogs who had been in a rebuilding phase at the time. "One of my best friends on Saint John had also been traded there the year before. So I ended up getting to meet up with him again, and he was my best friend throughout my junior years," said Gursoy.

Gursoy got to build more memories and friendships throughout his time there and played in some pretty important games along the way until the Christmas break of 2020.  "We usually have a big team party before everyone goes home for the break and our coach popped in after the game saying make sure you pop in the coach's office before you guys leave for a meeting, so I didn't think anything of it again." 

Once again, Gursoy was traded. This time for another 20-year-old in the league, forcing him to decide whether he would stay in the QMJHL or go home to Windsor. "My coaches were nice there and tough on me for sure but they're good people at heart and were looking out for me, so they traded me to Halifax," said Gursoy.

"That night was a sad night with a lot of my friends, everyone was pretty beat up but then it worked out despite it feeling like it was going to be the end of the world, it worked out again."

Gursoy received many opportunities playing for the Halifax Mooseheads and was quick to achieve significant personal success. Just when things had turned around, the season was shut down due to COVID-19, and Gursoy returned home to Windsor.

Looking back at his junior career, the trades and moving from place to place had a larger impact on him than anticipated. 

"In junior, you're with your teammates and best friends, and on the other side of the country–at least for myself. You develop those relationships and get comfortable, especially with your billets too," he explained.

"I was really close with my billets so leaving them and then leaving the team that I've been part of for a year and a half at a time was really difficult."

Being traded midway through the season was not easy to process, but having a supportive billet family to make the transition easier helped Gursoy.  "I remember when I first got traded there my billets reached out to me while I was still at home, saying hey, we're gonna be your family this time and we have two kids."

His billet brothers quickly became his friends, as he became more accustomed to living in Halifax and playing for the Mooseheads who had a different set of rules than his previous teams.

"It was crazy like you have a supportive system, friends at home, or new friends on the team and billet parents that kind of help you get through it, but it's definitely a shocking moment when it happens."

Since he was forced to return home due to COVID-19, he had to change gears and begin looking for a university to attend and play for. He had his heart set on St Francis Xavier in Nova Scotia, but other schools such as Windsor and Ryerson (TMU) were still viable options. 

"I kind of owe that to a former guy here, Devon PaIiani. I always saw stuff that he'd be posting when he was in Toronto. And he'd go to concerts all the time, it seemed like so much fun," said Gursoy. 

The idea of having his home life in Windsor and experiencing life in Toronto while playing hockey both piqued his interest. Ultimately, Gursoy signed with TMU in 2020/21. 

Gursoy began his university career alongside a group of guys who would soon become his roommates and best friends for four years, but his first year was nothing like what he imagined it would be.

"I felt coming in that I xwould have been playing a decent amount, and hopefully contributing to the team…and that pretty quickly came to an end."

Gursoy wasn't getting as much time on the ice as he hoped and was a healthy scratch for several games in a row, which he wasn't used to as he played a lot during his junior career. 

"Kyle Bollers and Elijah Roberts, who I was living with at the time, those guys were tearing it up and having the most fun playing, and I was just watching every night."

The team prioritized its senior players at the time, so breaking into the lineup was difficult and required a lot more practice and hard work to get a chance. As a rookie on the team, this became hard on Gursoy mentally.

"I was really questioning everything, like, what am I doing here? Should I stay here? Should I try to explore different options, whether that be another school or as bad as it sounds, maybe just quitting hockey? It was definitely a dark time in my hockey career, and I was struggling to find a purpose for going to the rink every day, waking up and getting through the day," said Gursoy.

Gursoy struggled to decide whether he would return to TMU after the first half of the year but he wasn't ready to give up although he was reaching that point. He knew he had to keep pushing himself to get to the level that his coaches expected of him. Things turned around when he asked Johnny Duco to play on a different line. 

"Thankfully, he was pretty open to that, and that game we rolled over York (Lions) 9-2. I had two goals, and finally, everything was clicking in that game… like this is awesome it's happening, and then I ended up getting scratched the next game."

With the playoffs around the corner, Gursoy continued to work hard in practice to earn his spot in the lineup, and eventually, it worked out.  "I remember showing up to practice on Monday, and I was pencilled in on the first line with Bollers to play our first playoff game against Western. I was like okay he's (Duco) throwing me into the fire–now I have to produce."

The rest is history. Gursoy played throughout the playoff run and scored the goal against McGill to send the team to nationals.

"I kept going to the rink every day, and, genuinely, tried to work as hard as I could by doing the little things. We laugh about it now, but Duco used to have a parachute strapped to my back and I had to skate up and down the ice, trying to get in shape."

Gursoy ended his first year in a position he thought was out of reach a couple of months before.

"That first year, despite not playing a whole lot, that team was unbelievable. And probably the most memorable year of hockey I've ever played–we had so much fun, even on the ice. That whole playoff run is what was the most memorable for not only myself, but I think everyone," said Gursoy.

Despite having a difficult and gruelling first year, Gursoy went on to play for TMU for another three years. In that time, he picked up a leadership position and became one of the seniors he once looked up to.

While playing he continued to complete his undergraduate degree in Global Management, inspired by his dad who works in business. 

Last season when TMU hosted the U SPORTS Championships, Gursoy played alongside his best friends for the last time before everyone went their separate ways. Unfortunately, they couldn't win the title.

"I never had really won anything–sure, you win tournaments and in minor hockey but I've never been in a championship. So for me, that was the closest that I had ever been. And I think a lot of us were in a similar boat."

When the 2023/24 season came to an end, Gursoy and the group of guys he came in with were preparing to leave TMU.

"We had a lot of good times, we were winning a good amount and I was playing with my roommate, my best friend–we would say we're basically brothers since we lived together for four years and I still talk to him every day," said Gursoy talking about Bollers.

"Towards the end of it, I started realizing maybe I would come back and with a lot of help from some guys on the team now, they were trying to convince me to come back," he explained.

The idea of one more year with the team was intriguing to him, as he had another year of eligibility. "Losing out on those guys was tough, and you feel their absence both in the lineup and in the room but to be able to come back and play with Joe Rupoli, Chris Playfair, Aleks Dimovski and Jackson Doherty who were there in my first year, it's been awesome."

This year Gursoy returned to TMU to complete a Master's in Business Administration. "Going to the MBA is a career-focused decision for me. I know I want to get into something in business so doing the MBA would boost my resume and give me some more opportunities down that avenue."

He has moved in with new roommates Playfair and Rupoli, who have become some of his closest friends. "Playfair is the captain of the team and this year, me and Joe were fortunate enough to be selected as assistant captains. So it just kind of solidified almost our career here, and what we had gone through," said Gursoy. 

"We try to host here as much as possible, being older guys and being through everything, we know that it's difficult to get everyone together in the city .I think that goes hand in hand with trying to lead by example on the ice too, with how we play."

Hosting team functions and hangouts has its perks for Gursoy, especially when he gets to work on and share his cooking with his teammates and friends. 

Gursoy comes from an Italian and Turkish family who are big on exploring and trying new cuisines. Watching his family cook has helped him pick up on this skill that he's used from his Junior career to being on his own at university. 

"Being in a house that loves food, both my parents are good cooks themselves. My mom's an amazing cook and my dad's sick on the barbecue."

He has made it a priority to cook every Sunday for his teammates during football games, hoping to bring the team closer together, cooking meals like pasta, steaks, tacos and even Turkish food.

Cooking, playing hockey and completing his MBA has filled his year so far with good memories alongside his teammates, friends and classmates. Moving forward, Gursoy hopes to finish out the season strong and graduate with his master's. As for the future, signing a pro contract whether that's in North America or Europe would be a dream come true for him. 

Gursoy has come a long way since his time playing junior hockey, and as difficult as his journey was, he continues to encourage younger guys to keep pushing forward because in his experience, in the end, it all worked out. 

"I'm sure every guy that's on this team was the guy on a team in the past, whether that was in minor or junior like you were relied on–and I try to be as encouraging as possible. I know it sucks. You think the world's ending like I did and it was brutal. My advice to them is always when you're given that opportunity, you have to try to make the most out of it."