Early this week, Buck Kochevar thought he was losing his longtime job as Lakeville North girls hockey coach.

He said some parents had complained to Superintendent Michael Baumann about their daughters’ playing time and Kochevar’s communication skills. Nothing more serious than that, Kochevar maintained in an interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Kochevar said Baumann had opened an investigation in June and told Kochevar on Oct. 10 that he could resign. When told he wouldn’t resign, Baumann offered to place Kochevar on nondisciplinary (administrative) leave.

Four days later, on Tuesday, 19 of Kochevar’s players — wearing matching red Lakeville North shirts — went before the school board to save their coach’s job.

“There’s been a lot of talk about removing our coach,” co-captain Carly Hanson said during the meeting’s public comment session. “I’ll be honest, it’s been hard for everyone to watch this happen and even harder to stay quiet about it. Our voices and opinions need to be heard and considered.”

The players submitted a petition to the board with 101 student signatures supporting Kochevar. By Wednesday morning he had his job back, with instructions to attend six communication courses.

“My group was with me the whole time, my girls and the parents,” Kochevar said. “I’m proud of them, and I thank them.”

Samantha Williams, a spokesperson for the school district, emailed the Star Tribune a statement: “Mr. Kochevar will be coaching for the 2025-26 season. Per Minnesota Government Data Practices Act and Lakeville Area Schools’ established policies, all employment matters are confidential and I am not able to share any further information at this time.”

On Oct. 10, when word spread that Kochevar was likely out as coach, the players had an outpouring of emotion.

Mike Petterssen, who has two daughters in the program, said the older one “cried her way home from Blaine all the way to Lakeville after a game.”

He added: “When we got home and told the youngest one, she was so upset she went to bed without dinner and cried herself to sleep.”

At the school board meeting, Steve Nolander, father of Lakeville North forward Addison Nolander, reminded the room that high school girls hockey practice starts Oct. 27.

The players need to be focused on that, he said, not “a parent’s vendetta against a coach stemming from a daughter’s playing time and/or role on the team.”

Painful journey

Kochevar, 59, grew up in famed hockey town Eveleth, Minn., and has been the North coach since 2005. He suffered a severe brain injury in 2011, when he fell backward onto the ice while coaching without a helmet.

Kochevar has been an advocate for coaching helmets ever since. He had the Panthers back in the state tournament the next season and was named Minnesota Girls Hockey Coaches Association’s Class 2A Coach of the Year in 2011-12.

All told, his teams have made five state appearances, the most recent in 2023.

He is also a fourth-grade teacher and an assistant golf coach. There’s statistical evidence that the most stress comes from his job of coaching girls hockey in Minnesota.

In August, the state’s high school coaches association released a study showing 72% of the state’s girls hockey head coaching jobs had come open over the past three school years. That was the highest turnover rate of the six sports programs studied, well beyond second-place girls basketball at 52%.

“I think part of it is the cost of this sport right now,” Stillwater girls hockey coach Tim Morris said in August. “The parents, especially, are looking for their ROI, the return on investment.”

Kochevar’s wife, Lynn, said the past year has taken its toll.

“This is my husband,” she said in a phone interview. “And to have him in tears, many times, and to feel like he’s worked his entire life and to have it ripped out was absolutely gut-wrenching.”

Inside the talks

The Kochevars recall tension festering over playing time last season, starting in November. Buck Kochevar had discussions with then-North activities director Mike Zweber and Principal Kimberly Budde and felt those sessions went well.

But Kochevar said that at the end of last school year, in June, Baumann called him into his office and said he would be opening an investigation.

“This parent kept calling him and calling him,” Kochevar said. “Every time we fixed it, he brought up another allegation.”

What were the most serious allegations?

“The rumors are out there that I had a bad practice, or I yelled,” Kochevar said. “That’s just a motivational thing, and it’s not like I’m going absolutely crazy. It was nothing like that.”

Kochevar said communication was a key point of contention. Some parents, for example, were frustrated that he used Schoology for team messages rather than other group texting apps. He also had communication issues with the booster club, Kochevar said.

Some of the playing time frustration stemmed from how it was communicated. Kochevar said he sometimes created “false hope” by having junior varsity players suit up for the varsity game but not play.

“I’ve been through that with my own kids, and you know, that is a tough, tough deal,” Kochevar said. “But that’s when the parenting comes in. That’s when a parent has to sit down their son or their daughter, and that’s why I want to talk [publicly] about this.

“Because that was a long haul, six months of, you know, headache and stomach-turning.”

Players rejoice

With the clock clicking toward a new season, the players spoke to the school board with urgency in their voices.

Hanson, one of three senior captains, said: “We understand that not everyone sees what we see, but if you remove Buck, you are ripping out the heart of this team.”

Co-captain Sidney Petterssen added: “If Coach Buck is let go, we’re not just losing a coach, we’re losing a role model, a friend and the foundation of our program.”

On Wednesday, those players got their wish. Kochevar will have his whistle ready for the first practice, and Lakeville North opens its season Nov. 8 at Moose Lake.

“I’m thrilled that they made the right decision,” Mike Petterssen said. “And that they didn’t wait to do it. The very next day, they corrected the situation, and they made things right for the girls, and I applaud them for that.”

Lakeville Area Schools continued to have no comment Thursday. Meanwhile, Buck and Lynn Hochevar were heading up north, where he planned to do some pheasant hunting and get ready for a new season.

He is hoping the support his players showed creates a galvanizing effect.

“You talk about team-building,” Kochevar said. “This is the best team-building I could have asked for. The kids are ready to play, and we’re better because of it.”