From Discover Westman

By Becky Sawatzky/Barry Lamb

A new school year and hockey season starts for the Bottineau Lumberjacks at Dakota College.  Head coach and instructor for the men’s hockey team, Travis Rybchinski, says he’s looking forward to a new year with another strong team on the ice.  However, with COVID-19 looming around every turn some Canadian students are nervous about returning to school on the south side of the border.

“Hockey-wise it’s been tough because we’ve had some kids not come because of the situation down here and it’s totally understandable,” shares Rybchinski.  “The worst part about being a coach right now is you’re not knowing.  It’s day by day or week by week and you’re not knowing what the situation is going to be a week down the road or a month down the road.  So, that’s the tough part right now.”

Getting the Bottineau college campus ready with COVID-19 safety protocol includes hand sanitizers on every desk in classrooms and in every dorm room, mandatory mask wearing, and having fewer students per class to accommodate social distancing between students.   “One thing I really noticed, and I was surprised, you might think young people might not be taking this seriously,” he says, “but we had all of our students wearing masks all around campus yesterday, and so that’s a really good sign.”

Coach Rybchinski is going into his 20th year with the Dakota College Lumberjacks.  He says the players from Canada have been a consistent strength to their teams over the years.  The DCB men’s hockey program began 45 years ago in 1975.

New for the 2020-21 season at DCB is their women’s hockey program.  “We have 20-some players from the women’s team now,” he explains.  “You know, I’ve always thought of us as a hockey school and we’ve done that now with adding the women’s program.”

The Lumberjacks will be getting in shape for their first game on November 1st and coach says they’ve got a great start to the new season with the return of their #1 goalie and a strong defense line up.

“The other thing we’re excited about here for hockey is that we’re allowed to play games the first semester,” explains Rybchinski.  “We’re under the American Collegiate Hockey Association which is letting teams play games in the first semester, whereas our basketball and volleyball, baseball and soccer are all under the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletics Association) and they basically cancelled the fall semester for competition.  So, we’re going to be the only teams on campus playing games that count.”

Celebrating 20 years of inspiring young people to be leaders on the ice and in community is something Rybchinski  sees as a true milestone, and a passion he takes to heart. 

(Originally published at https://www.discoverwestman.com/local/dakota-lumberjacks-start-strong-for-a-new-season)