The road to a long, successful career in hockey for Mike Williamson '17 was clear. Growing up in the puck-crazed Edmonton suburbs, Williamson amassed accolades since his parents first laced his skates over 20 years ago. After a decorated prep and junior hockey career, Williamson was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the sixth-round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He elected to continue his development with college hockey newcomer Penn State, immediately contributing in 27 games as a freshman.
The rest, it seemed, was obvious. After four seasons, Williamson would complete his ascension to the professional ranks, sign an NHL contract, and live out his childhood dreams.
But, life can be cruel. Or funny. Maybe fickle? How about just plain ironic?
Over the next two seasons, Williamson suited up in just 22 more games for the Nittany Lions. Recurring back injuries forced Williamson to retire in 2016. So, after spending two decades in a sport where its top players are easily identified by mangled smiles and missing teeth, Williamson naturally landed on plan B – a career in dentistry.
Of course, it wasn't actually that simple. At first, Williamson wasn't ready to completely abandon the sport he still loves.
The following year, Williamson joined the Penn State coaching staff as an undergraduate assistant coach. During this time, he had the chance to work alongside his former coaches and teammates, getting a taste of the other side of the sport he loves so much.
"You could see when he was healthy how good he was," Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky said. "Unfortunately, you could see how painful it was for him and it kept on getting worse and worse. We wanted him around the team as much as possible. It was an absolute no brainer to have him be one of our student coaches and help out with the guys. He's a high-level player, so he was a big help."
Throughout this endeavor, Williamson had to come to terms that a full-time career in hockey was no longer the route he would take in life.
Williamson described his transition out of hockey as "scary, but best-case scenario."
Hockey had dominated Williamson's entire life, but he was undeterred. Mike took help from his support system and searched for what was next.
Through conversations with his brother, Williamson decided to continue his education. His new goal was a different, less expected career path. Upon graduating from Penn State in 2017, he went to the University of North Dakota earning a degree in biology in 2019 before being accepted into the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry.
Believe it or not, while some may view it as a badge of honor, not all hockey players want to end up with altered jawlines and missing canines. In fact, Williamson never experienced a major dental injury during his career.
His former teammates thought this next step was an interesting and ironic choice, but they have supported his decision. In fact, they even look forward to one day being treated by the future Dr. Mike Williamson, DDS should a tooth ever get knocked out.
"I'm not sure a lot of them were necessarily thinking it was a good fit, but they're all super supportive now," said Williamson.
Currently in his third year of the four-year program, and his new career path, Mike and his family are very happy with how his new post hockey life has turned out.
"My family was happy that I found something to fill the void. I'd never even known life without hockey and all of a sudden, I got this massive amount of free time," mentioned Williamson. "They were happy that I could channel it into something that would help my future and give me a new purpose."
The team dynamic during Mike's time at Penn State was one of the highlights for him in Happy Valley. "I do miss the team. I got to go to the rink every day and have a group of 30 of my best friends there, you can't beat that. That's pretty special. It's something I would say I did not take for granted, because I definitely enjoyed it while I had it, no question," said Williamson.
The irony of being a former Division I hockey player who used to aim to knock teeth out to now an aspiring dentist who aims for proper oral care doesn't escape him.
"You know, it's very funny. Everyone gets a pretty good kick out of it. A lot of the patients at the dental school, when I tell them I used to play hockey, however it comes up in conversation, they always have a little chuckle," said Williamson. "I get asked 'do you still have all of yours,' like 'Yeah, I do. I've just chipped a bunch of them, but they're all still there more or less.'"
Showing off his hockey smile, complete with a few missing teeth of his own, Gadowsky explained how the dentistry field needs "more of our own," going on to describe that hockey players tend to end up in the dentist chair more often than the general public. He believes it was a good next step for Williamson.
"As hockey players, we want more people in that industry because we tend to visit the dentist more than other people. I thought it was a great fit and knowing that he's just such a smart, good guy I just imagine that he's going to do extremely well in the industry," said Gadowsky.
The transition into dental school served as much more than just his next step in life. It was something that he found new purpose in. He describes it as something that he really appreciated for himself. It was a decision that allowed him to transition his identity from being just a hockey player.
"That was kind of a tough thing for me," said Williamson. "It definitely wasn't my initial plan to pursue a doctorate program or anything like that. It sort of just happened with the transition," Williamson explained. "If I knew I wanted to do dental school or something like that before hockey, it probably would have changed how I approached undergrad as a whole, I suppose."
With some reflection, Mike went on to describe that despite the battles he's faced in getting to the point where he's at today he still wouldn't change anything. Williamson has shown the Nittany Lion community that despite the difficulties he had to endure, discipline and ambition served him well in building his life and identity beyond just hockey.
Dental school forced Mike to crack down on his self-discipline and adaptability these past three years, but according to him these were skills that hockey had already prepared him with.
"It's a lot of figuring out as you go and a lot of it is just relying on your faculty and your classmates to help you out, which I think hockey was kind of like the perfect segue way into this believe it or not," said Williamson. "Some people might think it's funny to go from hockey to dentistry, but a lot of the same stuff applies; teamwork, communication, just showing up and doing what you have to do whether you want to or not."
Although furthering his education was not necessarily something he originally envisioned for himself, it has shaped him and supplied him with "an endless number of peaks and valleys like hockey did." He describes it as another day at a different grind. "You're not going to the rink; you're going to clinic… you just show up and try to make the most of it… it kind of grooms you to be able to handle the different adversities that you're thrown in," said Williamson
Mike Williamson has found his new purpose after hockey. He is now looking toward the future as he begins to wrap up his time in dental school and has shifted into thinking about what the next step is for his family.
"Dream team to work with? I mean, Penn State wears cages, so they're out. They don't have a lot of tooth injuries," said Williamson. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have to twist my arm too hard to get me back to Happy Valley to be a part of the program."
