Travis Rybchinski

 by: Justin Blue
Travis Rybchinski is the Men’s ice hockey coach at Dakota College at Bottineau.  He has been very successful at Bottineau, with 5 national titles under his belt already.  His teams have won the national titles in 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.  Rybchinski will surely be looking for his sixth title this season.  When asked if he thinks this year will be another title year Rybchinski with a puzzled, unsure look on his face said, “I sure hope so, but we have a very young, inexperienced crew this year, but if we have some of our key guys step up and lead the team like I know they can, I think we can make another honest run at it.” 

When asked why this season might not look quite as promising as the previous years’ Rybchinski said “Many of our freshman leading scorers from last years’ did not return for their sophomore year, so we don’t really have any guys with the experience of playing college hockey.  That is why it is so tough for junior programs, like us, to be competitive year after year.”  Normally Bottineau has players who have at least played junior hockey before joining the team, which brings experience and leadership to the team.  This season will definitely prove to be a challenge for Rybchinski and his players. 

Assistant coaches Ron Gullet and Jeremy Tweed are still very positive about this years’ team.  They have been working very hard to help Rybchinski form this team into the team they know they need to compete in the national tournament.  Gullet says, “We have a lot of work ahead of us for us to get where we need to be come tournament time, but I think we have the players we need to get the job done,  Travis and I just have to figure out how to get them there and I know Travis is capable.”  Sophomore defensemen Jordan Kippen  also remains very confident with this years’ team.  Being one of the only sophomores to return Kippen has been forced into a leadership role on the team.  “I have a lot of confidence in our young team, I know our coaches will do all they can help us out.  Coach Rybchinski is a good coach and has been here before so his experience and knowledge gives us a little comfort.”   

Rybchinski’s players and fellow coaches seem to have great confidence in him to get things moving in the right direction.  He has a lot of big challenges ahead of him, but I’m sure he will handle them with poise and confidence like he always does.

Along with being a good hockey coach, Rybchinski is also just a great guy to have in the community.  He helps out with many other organizations , including youth hockey programs, so he is just a stand up guy and a great guy to have around inside or outside the locker room.