There are some things a head coach at every college program knows he’s going to be doing, no matter if he or she are new to the job or have been there for 20 years: Running practice. Recruiting. Meeting donors and season ticket holders. These are all givens.
But for Garrett Raboin, the list of responsibilities is unique. In fact, many of the Augustana head coach’s responsibilities are things most coaches never get to do–like designing team uniforms from scratch, or giving input on a team’s weight and locker rooms in their brand-new arena.
It’s part of what attracted Raboin, 37, to the job in the first place. The former St. Cloud State captain and Minnesota assistant coach was excited for the opportunity to build a program from the ground up.
“It’s incredibly unique, but it’s fun for me and my staff,” he said. “To do something that not a lot of teams have had the opportunity to do. To learn about Augustana, to learn about what makes Augustana such a special place. To find out who fits Augustana and who Augustana fits, if that makes any sense. It’s kind of two sides of the coin. There’s a lot that goes into it. It’s awesome for me to go into work every day and no one day looks like another.”
When Augustana announced back in October of 2021 that it was starting a Division I hockey program, there was much excitement around the college hockey world, mostly because of how novel it was for a school of Augustana’s size, stature and location.
The private, Lutheran-affiliated school in Sioux Falls, S.D., has been a Division II powerhouse, having won national championships in basketball, softball and baseball in the past decade, and had previously discussed moving its entire athletic department up to Division I. While that was put on hold, the school still moved ahead with its hockey initiative, funded in part by South Dakota billionaire and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford. Ground broke on the brand-new, on-campus $40 million Midco Arena the same day the hockey program was officially announced.
That puts Augustana in a somewhat unique position compared to other recent Division I newcomers. It didn’t, like future CCHA rival and fellow private Midwestern religious school St. Thomas, have a successful Division III program to build on, nor did it have even a high-level ACHA club team like Lindenwood. And unlike Arizona State or Penn State, it is not a Power 5 school (and does not have the corresponding Power 5 athletic budget).
But Augustana has one big advantage that the others (save St. Thomas) don’t possess–location. Sioux Falls specifically but the state of South Dakota in general is fertile ground for recruiting, due to junior hockey connections in the state as well as being neighbors with two even bigger hockey markets.
Raboin said the opportunity to help build South Dakota into a “hockey state” was another big reason why he took the job.
“For us, it’s awesome,” he said. “To grow hockey at the youth level in the state of South Dakota. Hockey rinks are going up, youth numbers are growing. There’s junior hockey in the USHL, in the North American league. And, hey, as we’ve seen, hockey does alright in the Dakotas if we can learn anything from our friends to the north.”
Currently, the state has two other Division I athletic programs at South Dakota and South Dakota State, both of whom have had great success in the last decade or so since moving up. Neither have hockey, so it’s not much of a stretch to think Augustana hockey can carve out its own niche both in the state and in the Sioux Falls community.
“The best thing we can do is put together a team that embodies a lot of those same characteristics that the people of South Dakota have, in terms of work ethic and a blue collar mentality,” Raboin said. “If the fans can come to the rink and feel well represented by the team on the ice, and be entertained, word will get out real quick. We have to put a good exciting product on the ice, but they will be watching hockey in an incredible new facility with all the amenities. I think when they’re leaving the rink, they’ll have a smile on their face… Plus, a lot of our students are from hockey country – coming from Minnesota and North Dakota.”
Leading by example, off the ice (for now)
Raboin isn’t alone on campus. In May, he hired Andy Boschetto from Colgate to be one of his assistants. And the two coaches aren’t just out recruiting and doing administrative work. Despite not having a rink of their own, or games to play, the Vikings do have two players who have been on campus all semester.
Ben Troumbly and Will Svenddal enrolled this fall and are taking the most unconventional redshirt season. They are on the ice twice a week and in the weight room three times a week. In the meantime, they are learning about Augustana and becoming a valuable resource for Raboin and Boschetto, as well as other potential recruits.
“They’ve just been a godsend to be quite honest,” Raboin said. “They truly are going to be experienced in what augustana is all about. When we bring 26 new players to town, they already know the lay of the land, they’re going to be a big piece of our foundation, and just having the transition for the rest of our team they are going to be huge.”
As the rest of the roster takes shape, Raboin said he is still trying to figure out exactly what makes Viking hockey work and what sorts of players he wants to bring in. Asked about what sort of style he thinks his teams will play, the former Bob Motzko player and assistant had an answer.
“As a coach, you pick up things along your path. From a player to a coach, a decade under coach Motz, it’s probably going to be, to a spectator’s eyes, very similar,” he said. “An aggressive forechecking team that competes and understands and is willing to play defense without the puck.”
And who will this team be playing? Well, the Vikings were inducted into the CCHA back in May, and for their first two seasons they will play one series against each conference opponent.
“What that allows us to do is build out a nonconference schedule, which I’m very excited about,” Raboin said. “We’re going to be able to go and showcase Augustana all across college hockey… literally from coast to coast, we’re going to be able to play nonconference games.”
Right now, the Vikings have games scheduled for 2023 against Notre Dame, Arizona State, Denver and Colorado College all on the road, but more will be announced in the near future, including home games, Raboin said.
As for competing in the CCHA, Raboin said he’s trying to watch the rest of the conference’s programs closely to figure out just how to be successful in a fairly balanced league.
“You’re trying your best to learn about the league, learn what works, try and find what recipe is working best,” he said. “It’s interesting because it’s always changing. Our league is great because there’s some really really good coaches. There’s some younger up-and-coming coaches and guys who have been competing at a high level for a really really long time, but the great part about it is, as competitive as it is, they’re always a phone call away, they’re willing to help, they’re incredibly selfless and it’s been great for me as a young coach to lean on them and ask questions.”
