Selkirk College makes change behind the bench, names Dubois as Head Coach

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The Selkirk College Saints Men’s Hockey program is pleased to announce the hiring of Jeff Dubois as the team’s Head Coach. Dubois joins the Saints following the departure of Darrin Kissock, who was behind the bench for the team’s five previous BCIHL seasons.

Dubois comes to the Saints from Simon Fraser University, where he has held the General Manager title since 2006. In six seasons with the Clan, Dubois has overseen the construction of three BCIHL championship teams (2008, 2010, 2011) and led a program that has advanced to the league’s championship game in each of the past five seasons.

Under Dubois’s leadership, SFU became the first BCIHL to face NCAA Division I and CIS opponents this past season as they faced Atlantic Hockey conference champions Air Force as well as their local rivals from the University of British Columbia. The Clan defeated UBC in a two-game event in January.

"Adding Jeff as our head coach marks a significant step forward for the Saints men’s hockey program," says Selkirk College athletics director Kim Verigin. "Our goal is to build a competitive team that can be a source of pride for our students, faculty, staff and community. Jeff’s experience and success in the BCIHL will be a tremendous asset as we work to achieve that goal."

Dubois arrives following a season in which the Saints finished with a 5-19-0 record but finished strong in recording late-season victories over Thompson Rivers University and Eastern Washington.

"I’m very excited to be joining Selkirk College and to be given the opportunity to lead the Saints hockey program," says Dubois. "I’ve experienced up close the process of developing a winning team in the BCIHL and my expectation is to build a roster that can immediately compete for a league championship."

"I see a great deal of potential in what Kim and the previous coaching staff have been building over the past five seasons. A number of people have contributed a substantial amount of effort to bring this program to the point where the team is very close to competing year in and year out. We’re going to take some more big steps over the next year and deliver a product that will be exciting to watch."

Recruiting for the 2012/13 season is already underway and Dubois expects a wealth of new talent to be on hand when training camp begins in late August.

"Successful teams at our level are built on a solid foundation of high-calibre junior hockey talent," he says. "We have a number of returning players coming off productive seasons and we’ll be adding to that core with a group that brings a good blend of Major Junior, Junior A and Junior B experience. That mix should create some solid competition for roster spots and icetime in September."

Dubois says that shaping the team’s identity and playing style will be the focus once the fall semester begins and the regular season approaches.

"Character and hard work will be the primary qualities that are associated with the Saints hockey program. It’s tough to project skill level sitting here in April, but we do know that the group we put together will be committed to working hard on and off the ice, doing the right things to win hockey games and playing a positive role in the community."

To date, five players have committed to Selkirk College for the 2012/13 season. That group includes forwards Thomas Hardy (Aldergrove-PIJHL), Cole Thomson (Kerry Park-VIJHL) and Matthew Luongo (Aldergrove-PIJHL), defenceman Dylan Smith (Richmond-PIJHL) and goaltender Stephen Wolff (Oceanside-VIJHL). Additional player announcements will be made in the coming weeks.