Cole Bassett is ready for his latest battle

“Let’s Play Hockey” by Brian Zolman

Cole Bassett spent the first part of this week in a new place, facing unfamiliar situations, and was in high spirits.

The 41-year-old underwent a series of tests at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester to determine the significance of a word that was completely new to him: cancer.

Bassett went to the emergency room at Woodwinds in Woodbury in early February to undergo tests to determine why her hemoglobin was dangerously low. A CT scan revealed blood clots in her chest, lymph nodes and around her heart. Doctors immediately ordered a PET scan, which revealed even more alarming news.

“When the emergency room doctor came into the room, she was the first one to use the word cancer,” Bassett said.

Bassett was shocked. He wasn't feeling well for a while, but he ignored it and turned 40. Fatigue, weakness, dizziness…I just thought I was getting older.

“It's been a slow decline over the last few years, but it's slowed down so much that it's becoming normal,” he said. “It was so slow and gradual that I thought it was just slowing down with age.”

Bassett came down with a bad cold in early February and saw her doctor, who prescribed antibiotics. The congestion cleared up, but the weakness and fatigue worsened, so I had to make another appointment. Blood tests revealed that his hemoglobin levels were dangerously low. The normal level for an adult is 14-18 years old, and his level was 6.8.

“It got really serious right away,” Bassett said.

The doctor ordered him to go to the emergency room and receive a blood transfusion. But he had one problem. The Park of Cottage Grove High School hockey team, which he helped coach, played a game that night.

“I had a match against Cretin and of course I wasn't going to miss it,” he said. “She made me promise to go to the ER after the game, so she did.”

Hockey has been a big part of Bassett's life since he was a young boy playing as a Mite in Burnsville's youth program. He played at Burnsville through the Pee Wees, then played one year with bantams at White Bear Lake before enrolling at Hill-Murray High School. He played two years at Hill-Murray before joining the United States National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he played the remaining two years of his high school career. His skills eventually reached Mankato, where he played four years at Minnesota State University in the early days of Division I hockey in the now-defunct WCHA.

He played several seasons professionally in the United Hockey League before retiring as a player and moving into other hockey-related roles such as scouting and coaching.

“Hockey shaped my life,” he said. “I owe everything that I am, everything I do, my circle of friends and all the people around me to hockey.”

After his playing days ended in 2005, he re-enrolled at Minnesota State Mankato University and earned a degree in sports management. From 2007 to 2008, he served as an assistant coach at Hill-Murray, helping the school win the 2008 state championship. He returned to Ann Arbor from 2008 to 2010, working with the NTDP's 1992-born players and coaching under the current Wild bench. his boss John Hynes; After his stint in Ann Arbor, he returned to Minnesota and worked with Lakeville's program before being scouted by the U.S. Development Team as the Minnesota Regional Manager. From 2018 to 2019, he participated in the Gentry Academy program. He also helped coach a friend of his on the Woodbury Pee Wee B1 team in 2022-23, which won the state championship.

“That was pretty cool,” he said.

Jeremy Bell was the one who hired Bassett to coach the Pee Wee B1 team.

“We had Cole Bassett and Leon Hayward (St. Thomas University assistant) on our staff,” Bell said. “I had the best coaching staff in the entire state. Our kids learned a lot from them.”

In 2019, he became independent and developed HIT Hockey, which provides individual skills training in small groups.

While training his players in Cottage Grove, he received a call from Park of Cottage Grove High School's newly hired head coach, Jeff Kokish. Corkish wanted Basset to join his staff.

“I've always wanted to get back into coaching, so I'm grateful for the opportunity,” Bassett said.

He and Corkish developed a strong bond.

“We talk every day,” he said. “He has provided great support.”

Corkish first met Bassett when Bassett was teaching small group skills in Cottage Grove. He watched him from afar and admired his dedication to his players. He knew it was more than just a money-making venture for Bassett, it was a passion project.

“I like what he does,” said Corkish, who will begin his second season as head coach at Park Cottage Grove next winter. “He held the kids accountable. A lot of coaches tell kids what they want to hear. He wanted to make sure he was coaching them well. He wanted them to be on the ice. I made sure that I was spending every second to improve.”

Corkish said Bassett is a perfect fit for the staff he has built at Park of Cottage Grove.

“He's a big, important piece for us,” he said. “He's brought a lot to us. It's great to have him on board.”

The relationship between Bassett, Bell and Corkish was born through a shared passion for hockey. The game is about who can score the most goals, but over the years, winning and losing become secondary to the relationships built.

Bassett is seeing that change in real time with his latest diagnosis. The hockey community, as always, rallied to be there for their team.

“I've always seen how communities come together from the outside, but now it's our own and it's someone close to us, so how much love there is It’s heartwarming to know that,” Korkish said.

Bassett, whose benefits were announced April 14 at Cottage Grove Ice Arena, said she has been overwhelmed by the amount of support she has received since her diagnosis became public.

“This outreach has been incredible,” he said. “From the hockey community and from outside the hockey community. I get text messages from guys I've never played with but are friends with guys I played with 15 or 20 years ago. People. was phenomenal.”

Bell said he has received donations for the charity event, which will be held April 14 at Cottage Grove Ice Arena, including memorabilia from the Minnesota Wild and former North Star Neil Broten. .

“It's great to see the city's professional clubs rallying around a local hockey coach,” Bell said. “In Minnesota, hockey is a very big part of a lot of people's lives. The hockey community is very close-knit.”

This benefit has been established to support the Bassett family as they navigate their way forward. It's an uncertain road, but one Basset is ready to get off. The current diagnosis is peritoneal mesothelioma. Doctors told him it was cancer caused by asbestos.

“This is typically seen in 70-year-old pipe fitters, welders, or insulators who worked in the 50s, 60s, or 70s,” Bassett says. “I don't know how I was exposed to it.”

The cancer is at stage 4, and this visit to Mayo Hospital will determine the final diagnosis and treatment plan.

“Physically I feel good,” he said. “I'm ready to get the final, final diagnosis from the experts and experts and, oddly enough, I'm looking forward to starting treatment. I'm ready to attack this and confront this problem. ”

Bassett said he hopes that telling his story will encourage more men his age to make doctor's appointments and get tested. He said even if you're feeling well, it doesn't hurt to go to the hospital and get tested for potential underlying problems.

Cole Bassett's Caring Bridge

“I keep thinking about the players I played with in high school and at Michigan State and my early college days,” he said. “You're all my age now. Who else doesn't know that there's something going on? I just want to spread awareness and get those people to get PET scans, CT scans, etc. We want to encourage people to get scanned and prevent it.”

In the meantime, Bassett will lean on his support system as he learns more about his options. He maintains a positive attitude and, like most hockey players, is ready to face any battle. He knows he has a strong team behind him every step of the way.

“Hockey players have big hearts,” Korkish said. “They're full of grit. You have to be a special breed to play at the level that Cole played. It's a tough and long road to go from junior hockey to college hockey. He has learned more than I have along the way. Those experiences will be of great help to him.”

Cole brings the same attitude he had when he took to the ice to the current situation because he knows he has a strong team behind him and is ready to do whatever it takes to win this fight. I'm going to bring it against.

“We are optimistic, we are hopeful and we are strong,” he said. “We're going to beat it. We're going to beat it. I'm going to be around for a long, long time.”