For Dartmouth senior defenseman Alex Dumas, he has already been fortunate enough to skate with professional athletes. When Dumas was 16 and playing midget hockey, he teamed up with soon-to-be NHL players Alexandre Daigle and Joceyln Thibault. A forward for the Senators, Daigle was a first-round draft pick for Ottawa in 1993. Thibault, a first-rounder in 1992, is a goalie with Montreal.

"At the time, we really didn't realize they would play in the NHL," said Dumas, a native of Laval, Quebec. "We just knew they were really good. It was definitely a lot of fun, because playing with good players is always exciting."

Hockey is the national sport of Canada, and Dumas has been handling pucks on the ice all his life. His father loves hockey and got his son skating when Alex was two and a half years old.

For Dumas, a math and economics major, this is the last season he is eligible to compete at the collegiate level, and he wants to make the most of it. Already this winter, he has recorded a goal and five assists for the Big Green.

But individual statistics are not what Dumas is interested in most. He epitomizes what a "team player" should be because he is not concerned with scoring points or making the highlights ¯ Dumas just wants a "W."

"As long as we're winning, I'm happy with what we are doing," he said. "I think it is important to play solid defense and be physical on the ice. If I put some points on the board, that's great. If we're doing fine without that, then I can just play defense and I'll be happy as long as we're winning."

His coaches acknowledged that Dumas will go all out to help Dartmouth earn a victory.

"He definitely wants to win games," assistant coach Rob Abel said. "He wants to be in a winning program and is committed to doing whatever it takes."

His teammates enjoy playing with him due to his style of play. Senior defenseman Owen Hughes, who played two years with Dumas at Milton Academy before both of them came to Dartmouth, cannot say enough about his teammate.

"Playing with Alex for the past six seasons has been nothing short of great," Hughes said. "He possesses a great knowledge for the game as well as a fine shot from the point. Alex is clearly a blue-chip defenseman."

While the Big Green competed in a postseason contest last year, Dumas would do anything to help the Dartmouth keep playing well into March.

"This year, it would be really nice to go out on a good note, making the playoffs and going to Lake Placid," Dumas said. "For the last 10 to 15 years, Dartmouth hockey has been struggling, and it would be nice to turn it around and make it what it used to be."

Dumas is hoping that his hockey career will not end once he graduates in June. He is looking to play overseas, try out in the International Hockey League or the Central Hockey League.

"I'd love to keep playing, for sure," Dumas said. "But playing hockey after college is tough. I may go to Europe and that would definitely be a lot of fun. I have to make a decision ¯ keep playing hockey or hanging 'em up and use my degree to get a job."

But when it is all said and done, he wants to be remembered as a player who would contribute positively in any way possible.

"I did whatever it took to win, whether it might be scoring or being a role player," Dumas said. "I'd like to be remembered as a good player, a two-way player who could play offense as well as defense."