What many may not know, but perhaps guessed, is Boris Rybalka’s positive influence on over 500 young hockey players over the entire 26 seasons stems from an upbringing deeply rooted in hard work, loyalty and love, further nurtured by the continued support of his family, especially his wife Roxy and daughter McKenna. For Boris, family is everything and, for so many of the young men he influenced over those 26 seasons, he was more than just a coach. He was very much a strong father figure.

Like many children in Canada, Boris’s first experience with the official winter sport of Canada began with games played with his brothers on outdoor rinks.

Recognizing a talent and passion for the game, Boris’s parents, Sylvia and Jakiw, encouraged him to continue playing in organized sports, which led to him playing midget triple-A hockey and eventually junior-A hockey with the Humboldt Broncos.

After high school graduation, Boris went to Calgary to pursue post-secondary studies in Criminology at Mount Royal College.
“While taking criminology, I kept thinking about what I wanted to become. Maybe a lawyer or police officer, which was a passion of mine,” noted Boris. “I remember phoning my mom and dad and asking them what they thought and they both said, ‘You have always loved hockey. Why don’t you get into coaching?”

On the trusted advice of his parents, he began taking courses through Hockey Canada, Hockey Alberta and Coaching Association of Canada, while completing his criminology program. He successfully completed Advanced High Performance 1 and Advanced High Performance 2 in coaching, and then eventually acquired a Chartered Professional Coach designation.

After completing the Criminology program, he began applying for positions in that field, when he learned about an opening for an assistant coach with the University of Alberta Augustana Campus (then Augustana University College) Vikings men’s hockey team.

“I remember thinking Camrose is a nice town and it had the Viking Cup, so I went and met with Gary Snydmiller (then Vikings head Coach),” said Boris. “I remember Gary looking at me and saying that the job didn’t pay well, but I wanted to learn and he was the best to learn from.”

Boris accepted the offer as the Vikings assistant coach in 1992, during which time an opportunity to coach Junior Hockey with the Lloydminster Blazers became available. Once again, Boris turned to his parents, as well as Gary, seeking advice on what he should do.

“I told my parents I had a good sense about Lloyd and helping turn the program around.”

With the support of his parents and Gary, Boris headed off to Lloydminster in 1994-95 for his first head coach position.
In 1997, Camrose was granted the expansion team (Kodiaks) with head coach Jeff Truitt, who contacted Boris, to ask if he would be interested in becoming the Kodiaks’ assistant coach/general manager (GM).

Boris accepted the position and moved back to Camrose, where he began developing his skills in sponsorship, marketing and tickets sales, not to mention continuing to hone his coaching abilities.

In 1998-99, while working as the assistant coach/GM with the Kodiaks, Boris took on the job of being part of the committee responsible for running the Viking Cup. “With both, it was a full time job,” laughed Boris, relating the important values his parents had taught him about work and supporting yourself and family.

In 2000-01, Jeff left the Kodiaks and Boris took over the position of Kodiaks’ head coach. In 2001-02, he took a hiatus from head coaching, remaining general manager of the Kodiaks, to once again work with the Viking Cup tournament.

After bringing home a silver with the Viking Cup, Boris returned full time as the Kodiaks’ head coach and general manager, maintaining that position until 2018-19, when he stepped back from coaching, staying on as the general manager.

In 2023, the Camrose Sport Development Society (CSDS), responsible for the operation of the Kodiaks, put in a bid to get a senior double-A hockey team for Camrose, the now Bruins. Anticipating Boris’s announcement of retiring from the Kodiaks, the CSDS asked him if he would finish out his contract with the Kodiaks as general manager while setting up the Bruins.

Boris eagerly accepted the position and the challenge. “The Bruins have had a great year with good fans,” said Boris. “The League is impressed and proud of what is set up and sees it continuing for years to come.”

Looking back, Boris smiles as he thinks about how he started his long Camrose hockey career building a brand new franchise, the Kodiaks in the Max McLean Arena, and finishing that career by once again starting a brand new franchise, the Bruins, in that same arena.

During his career with the Kodiaks, Boris coached 1,750 games with a 625 regular scoring percentage as head coach and over 800 regular season and playoff season wins in the AJHL.

His career included 25 wins at Royal Bank and RBC Cup National/Championships; two golds and one silver medal at the world Junior A Challenge; Canada Games gold medal; silver medal from the Viking Cup with AJHL team south; silver  medal World Junior Club Championship in Sochi Russia; five Alberta Junior Hockey League championships; five Doyle Cup titles; three times runner up to an RBC Cup championship; and a national Royal Bank Championship.

Boris commended Hockey Canada, Hockey Alberta and the Camrose Sport Development Society for not only supporting his vision on developing good hockey players and even better citizens, but always encouraging him to continue his own growth.
He said how grateful he is to CSDS for always promoting values that were beyond just winning championships.

“At the end of the day, we wanted to see these young boys becoming young men and becoming good citizens down the road. I’ll always remember what they (the Society) said, ‘You will always be judged, not just on the ice, but off the ice.’”

It is very apparent that being involved in the community was an important part of Boris’ coaching methods.

“I am proud to be a Camrosian. My wife and I have lived here and our daughter grew up here. So I was going to make these players Camrosians, even though they may only have been here for a short time. We (Kodiaks franchise) wanted them to understand the pride in being in Camrose, involved in the schools and public service, including the DARE program, Special Olympics, Boys and Girls Club and more. We didn’t miss anything.”

In speaking of what might otherwise be viewed as challenging, bringing 25 young men aged 16 to 20 from a variety of beliefs and backgrounds into a community, Boris said, “You have to get them all on the same page and that doesn’t happen overnight. And if you do that, with respect for them, that will come back tenfold.”

Boris prided himself on letting all the players know that while coaching, they all had his undivided attention.

“I would tell them that while I was with them, they were my family right now. They were all my sons,” said Boris, adding that it was a balance of whichever hat he needed to wear at the time. If his players needed him, he put on the Kodiaks hat, but if his family needed him, he would put on that hat. And by all accounts, from players, assistant coaches, trainers and other Kodiaks staff, Boris always put his “family” first.

Kodiaks player assistant, captain/forward and #7 for seasons 2000-01 and 2001-02, Mark Robinson shared his thoughts on his time under the tutelage of Boris.

“He made my experience in Camrose awesome,” remarked Mark. “He was always around and always available for anything, whether related to hockey or our personal lives.

“His leadership style for the team was one of the things that brought us all together and made that season so successful.”

Mark, who now spends many an hour in hockey arenas supporting his own four boys playing the game, can relate more than ever to Boris’s mantra, “Family always comes first”.

“That to me was the key to success–showing the players the importance of family,” said Boris. “Taking my daughter and wife to the rink and meeting the players.”

Nearing the end of the interview, Boris related an incredible story about his own father as a young boy with his father (Boris’ grandfather), and their terrifying experience of being the fifth in line for the firing squad and saved to be sent off to a concentration camp. “They were sent by train and, at one point, my grandfather said to my father, ‘In case I don’t see you again, goodbye until we meet again in Heaven’ and he threw my father off the train into a river then jumped in after him.”

Through the most incredible odds, Boris’s father survived and eventually came to Canada to build a life, have a family and teach his family to respect what life gives you, not what it doesn’t. It is those strong family values that have remained with Boris, and which he passed on to his own daughter and “his” 500 hockey sons.

Over 30 years ago, Boris’s parents started their young son on a career trajectory in hockey with a few simple words, “You love hockey, why not do that?”

And that he did, with the unwavering support of his mother and father, who throughout that career would phone him to see how things were going and wish him luck. “There wasn’t a day that my mom missed when she was alive.”

As for Boris’s father, who is now 94 and is sadly struggling with dementia, Boris still fills him in on what is going on in his life while preserving the past. “We (Boris and his siblings)  made a book for him to go through. So every time he wakes up, he opens the book and reads it.”

Boris admits over the years he has had the support of so many wonderful people in his life, including his parents, siblings, wife and daughter, in-laws, friends, Kodiaks family and the community itself, and for that is he eternally grateful.

As for the future, Boris is heading in another direction on his journey of life and his outstanding career of making positive change in the lives of young athletes.

Recently, he accepted a position with Hockey Canada–Canada’s National Para Hockey Team, as an assistant coach. “I feel very blessed and honoured. They flew me out to Toronto to meet head coach Russ Herrington and the other assistant coaches. I was so impressed with how professional and prepared they are, how they train and everything they do,” remarked Boris.

Boris will be attending Para Hockey competitions throughout the next few months, including the one in Minot, North Dakota on March 9 to 17 in preparation for World Championships from May 4 to 12 in Calgary. Then the team will be off for the summer, continuing their training. In September, they will start playing again with the ultimate goal of making it to 2026 Winter Paralympics, being held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

“These are the world’s best athletes and I was so impressed with them,” admired Boris. “How could you not want to win for them.”
As for the National Para Hockey Team, they have already struck gold, by bringing Boris Rybalka to the bench.