Baribeau having impact both on and off the ice at Briercrest
Jacob Baribeau is another tenacious, hard-working, skilled forward hailing from Ontario in his second year in the business program at Briercrest.
He felt that coming out west to go to school was a choice that God was leading him towards and the opportunity to earn a business degree at a Christian based school, as well as continue to develop as a hockey player was an opportunity that was too good to pass up.
He has had a number of favorite moments at Briercrest so far including road trips, hanging with the guys in the high school dorm or being on the bench during the high school intramural hockey game he helped coach.
Jacob recalled one other moment this way, “one of the guys in my dorm got his truck stuck way out on some dirt road in the middle of last winter. A bunch of us got the distress call so I think something like 10 guys got all hyped up and headed out there to give this fella a hand. It was a blast. We all loaded up in the back of a truck, hoot’n & holar’n, you know, just being guys stoked to do manly things. We went and got that guy unstuck. It wasn’t easy though! You would think 10-12 guys could just pick the thing up but we struggled for about an hour. Anyways, once we got him unstuck we all celebrated like we won the Stanley Cup. It was a real moment of brotherhood that we had together that I don’t think I’ll forget.”
As a student his goal is to absorb as much wisdom and knowledge from this place as possible and eventually get his BA in Business. Grades are important to him, but really the true value of this place cannot be measured by a percentage.
As an athlete, his goal is to become a dominant player in the league. He wants to develop himself as a hockey player so that in years to come he can take his skills and play at a professional level over in Germany.
“I would also love to bring home to Briercrest a championship in hockey and help create a lasting legacy for this team,” he said.
Jacob feels his time here so far has been impactful personally.
“God is teaching me more about how to have a real relationship with Him and what that looks like,” he explained.
If nothing held him back he would love to play hockey in the NHL, as many would, but his goals would be to play hockey in Europe before settling down and with his own business and family. This is, unless shoe checking becomes something he could earn a salary with.