ESTEVAN — At this time a year ago, Barret Kropf's focus was on university hockey.
The former Estevan resident was the head coach of the Trinity Western University Spartans' men's hockey team in Langley, B.C. They had just wrapped up their first season at the U-Sports level and he was bringing in players for year two.
Kropf was coming home to Estevan to scout the Centennial Cup national junior A tournament when he was invited by a friend to visit the Prairie Hockey Academy in Caronport, another community where Kropf has lived.
"I was blown away with the world-class facilities that they've built here, and just seeing some of the players and staff and what not, I was intrigued," said Korpf.
Kropf was offered the role of the general manager of the program, as well as the chance to head up the U15 program.
"I think it was one of those perfect scenarios where maybe we were tired of the traffic and the craziness of what [metro] Vancouver was offering, and then the peace and tranquillity of Saskatchewan and the familiarity of being back home … was a pretty good drawing card," said Kropf.
They were also closer to family in Saskatchewan.
Kropf said he is excited for the future of the academy. They have four teams in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League, which Kropf described as the best prep hockey league in the country.
"It just really shows the transition and the place that academy hockey is able to establish, being on the ice and getting that training for so many young players," said Kropf.
It's also been refreshing to work with younger players. He loved working at the U-Sport level with talented players and coaches, but he was working with grown men who were finished with junior hockey.
But they were also worn down from the pressure of junior hockey.
"A lot of times, when you're recruiting guys, they've almost lost their love for the game. At Trinity, I found that we spent a lot of time repairing young men coming out of junior hockey, and getting their love for the game back," said Kropf.
At the academy level, he gets to prepare them for junior hockey to be leaders on and off the ice.
But the crowning achievement this past season came when he helped bring a 14-year-old Ukrainian refugee to Canada to play for the academy's U15 team.
Korpf has spent a lot of time in Kazakhstan, Russia and Czechia during his hockey career. A friend informed him that a young player, Mykhailo [Misha] Shelipov and his mother Zina had fled Ukraine and were living in a refugee camp in Poland.
"He [Misha] was at practice one day and they get the message from the arena manager that everyone had to vacate because bombs are going to start landing soon, and so they fled, and within a kilometre of their houses, they were dodging bullets and bombs," said Kropf.
Kropf received the call in mid-October. A month later, the permit was in place for the family to come to Canada through the Canadian Ukraine Emergency Transition Program, which Kropf said is a great initiative, and three weeks after that he was picking him up in Regina just before Christmas.
A GoFundMe campaign was launched to help with the cost of bringing the family to Canada.
"It's been a real joy to see how thankful they are coming out of that situation," said Kropf.
Misha is a kid with a permanent smile on his face and he works hard, Kropf said. He scored in his last two games of the season to the delight of his teammates.
"It's a storybook … that's been written, just for him to experience those kinds of things after fleeing the war. It's something he'll never forget," Kropf said.
Through the generosity of people in Saskatchewan and elsewhere, Misha, his parents, his two siblings and his grandmother have settled in the community. The parents have jobs and are contributing to the community.
"Canada's just such a brilliant place for stories like that to unfold, and I'm just glad that we had a small part in it and can see a life truly transformed by this family to be here in Canada," said Kropf.
