Back to School: Jacob Bernard-Docker

If there's one way to sum up how life is right now on an NCAA campus, Ottawa Senators prospect Jacob Bernard-Docker may have said it best.

"It's a little odd trying to remember when all your zoom calls are every day."
Such is life right now for students and athletes returning to school amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. For Bernard-Docker, five of his six classes are online as he continues to work towards his kinesiology major.
"It's pretty quiet on campus," he said. "There's not a lot of people walking around. Most people have online classes. But you adjust to it and I'm getting use to it now."
One thing that has been fairly normal is Bernard-Docker's on-ice schedule. He and his North Dakota teammates have been practicing in small groups but are now getting back to full team practices. Some of his teammates have had to quarantine as the virus passed through Grand Forks but gives credit to his coaches for keeping practices up-tempo and fun at the same time, despite the difficult circumstances.
"Our coaching staff and everyone at North Dakota have done a really good job of trying to get us through this," Bernard-Docker said.
The 20-year-old defenceman says his offseason schedule was thrown off by the pandemic but feels confident heading into his third season with the Fighting Hawks saying he was trying to stay in shape as best as he could.
His junior season is also going to come with some additional responsibility. On Aug. 28 the Canmore, Alta., native was named an assistant captain for the first time in his career.
"It's an honour, obviously," Bernard-Docker said. "There's a lot of leaders on our team and I think it's big that my teammates and coaches recognized me as a guy that can help.
"I think everyone on our team is a leader but it is super cool."

There's a lot of motivation for the Fighting Hawks for the upcoming season as when the 2019-20 campaign was cancelled due to the pandemic, they were the second ranked team in the NCAA with a 26-5-4 record and led the National Hockey Collegiate Conference (NCHC). They were later awarded the Penrose Cup as conference champions, their first since 2016.
Bernard-Docker decided to return to school for his junior year rather than turn professional to help the Fighting Hawks achieve their goal of a national championship, something they haven't won since 2016. That team featured current Sens d-man Christian Wolanin.
"It was not a good feeling with how it ended but at the same time we've turned a page and got a new team, some new guys that we want to get use to the culture and trying to teach them every day," Bernard-Docker said. "We're really excited for this upcoming season."
While the 2019-20 season ended in disappointment for Bernard-Docker, 2020 has been kind to him. He was in the midst of a career-year with the Fighting Hawks where he had new career highs in goals (7), assists (18) and points (25) in just 32 games.
There was also that small matter of helping Canada win gold at the World Juniors in January.
"I feel like I've developed quite a bit over the last few years and the World Juniors was a super cool experience for me and to take what I learned there with all those super skilled players and take it back to North Dakota," Bernard-Docker said.
"The coaching staff and everyone at North Dakota have done an unbelievable job of helping everyone in the program develop as a player and also as a person so I'm super fortunate."