Bruno Baseotto

Bruno Baseotto is a Canadian/Italian retired ice hockey right winger and coach. He won four separate Italian League championships with two teams in the 1980s and 1990s.

Playing career
A Calgary native, Baseotto played junior hockey for his hometown Calgary Canucks. He was a top scorer for the club, helping the club win the league championship in 1978 and then paced the team in scoring the following year as they reached the championship but were unable to repeat. In the fall of 1979 be began attending the University of Michigan and helped turn around a program coming off of one of the worst seasons in its history. Baseotto helped the Wolverines win 15 more games in 1980 and finished 7th in the nation in scoring. He returned the following season, but after just 2 games, new head coach Wilf Martin resigned due to ill health. At the same time the team was going through a hazing scandal that saw three of his teammates suspended. While Baseotto was not a part of the scandal, he had been unhappy with his treatment by the team and news of the hazing incident convinced him to leave.

Baseotto returned home to Calgary and played for the Calgary Wranglers while continuing his studies at the University of Calgary. He led the Wranglers in scoring and led the team to the team to the league finals, losing in seven games to the Victoria Cougars. His scoring exploits in the junior and college ranks enabled Baseotto to sign his first professional contract the following year and he spent most of the year with the Fort Wayne Komets, producing at a near point-per-game pace. Despite the solid numbers, Baseotto decided to leave minor league hockey behind and travelled to Italy to play for HC Gherdëina. True to form, he led the club in scoring by averaging more than 3 points per game and led them to a runner-up finish for the league championship.

After the year abroad, Baseotto finished his collegiate career with the Calgary Dinos in 1984. He then returned to Italy and made a home for himself in his new country. Baseotto joined HC Bolzano and arrived in time to help the team win the league championship in 1985. He remained one of the team best offensive players over the next 4 years and helped them win another championship in 1988. During that season, Baseotto made his first appearance with the Italian national team, however, because the team had finished 14th in the 1987 Ice Hockey World Championships, they were left out of the 1988 Winter Olympics. With Baseotto on the national team, Italy performed much better at the next World Championships and finished as the group B runners-up in 1989. While the team was unable to win promotion at the time, their elevated level of play put the Italians on the right path and they returned to Olympic competition in 1992.

In 1989 Baseotto joined the newly founded HC Devils Milano and led the team in scoring in their inaugural year. Baseotto remained a key figure for the team as it swiftly rose to the top of the league. In 1991 he played with future hall-of-famer Jari Kurri during his year-long contract dispute with the Edmonton Oilers. Baseotto later helped the club win consecutive championships in 1992 and 1993 before retiring as a player.

Baseotto began his coaching career in 1993 by returning to his roots. He served as the bench boss for the Calgary Royals for four years in the mid-1990s. Unfortunately, his return to the AJHL didn't meet with much success and, after four losing seasons, he was out as head coach. Baseotto continued his coaching career as an assistant and worked in that capacity with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Saskatoon Blades and Tri-City Americans. He resigned from his position in 2005 for personal reasons and has yet to return to the game.