Staff
Colton Bodnar was a catalyst for generosity on two fronts—first from the fans, then from his own team.
Bodnar and the rest of the Muskie boys’ hockey team took it to a pair of Minnesota squads during two exhibition games over the weekend that closed the book on their pre-Christmas schedule.
Fort High dumped the Kittson Bearcats (Hallock) by a 9-2 margin Friday night at the Ice For Kids Arena, then administered a 6-1 beating to the Lafayette Eagles in Red Lake Falls.
The Bearcats tried to ruin the fun of the Muskies’ annual “Teddy Bear Toss”—scoring the first goal of the game just 28 seconds in when Alex Donaldson’s shot beat Matt Booth.
But Bodnar made sure fans in possession of plush companions didn’t have to hold onto them for long at all.
He uncorked a blast that went by two Kittson defenders and past Bearcats’ goalie Jackson Soliah at 4:41 to unleash a cascade of bears and other stuffed animals that will go to under-privileged children in the area for Christmas.
The Muskies took their first lead at 9:37 when Chase McGuire got half-a-step on a Kittson defenceman in a race to the puck at centre ice, then used his speed to turn it into a full-fledged breakaway—deking Soliah before beating him stick side.
John Karboviak re-energized the Bearcats with a short-handed tally at 12:16 to make it 2-2.
But Fort High racked up seven unanswered goals from then on to ice the victory.
First Jon Busch pulled in Cam Gushulak’s lead pass off a 2-on-1 and outwaited Soliah before going upstairs for the go-ahead goal.
Just 1:24 later, Sully Shortreed made it 5-2 thanks to Bodnar getting by with a little help from his friends.
Bodnar collided with Riley Kuznia in the neutral zone, with the Muskie taking the worst of the hit and having to crawl back to his bench.
His waiting teammates pulled him through the gate to allow for a player change and keep the play going.
That led to the puck getting to Graeme Kitt at the side of the Kittson net, where Soliah stopped his shot before Shortreed deposited the rebound.
Kitt later fed Shortreed just 39 seconds into the third frame for his second goal of the game.
Then less than two minutes later, Kitt and Cooper Witherspoon worked the puck over to Matt Cheetham, who wheeled in front and put a low bullet through a screened Soliah.
He was replaced by back-up goalie Ben Sugden, who gave up Cheetham’s second goal on the first shot he faced just 24 seconds into his relief appearance to make the lead 7-2.
Byron Stewart and Brent Jourdain, set up by Sam Tibbs, rounded out the scoring.
The following day in Red Lake Falls, Fort High decided to get the bulk of its scoring out of the way early—unloading for five goals on Lafayette starter Bailey Schmitz in the first period.
McGuire (two), Tibbs, Kitt, and Kendyn Faragher all lit the lamp in the first 9:30 of the contest.
Chase Schmitz offered some consolation to the Eagles’ fans with his short-handed goal at 4:36 of the second.
But Dylan Ossachuk was unbeatable after that while Bodnar tacked on extra insurance when he tallied with 27 seconds to go.
The Muskies next are on the road to Thief River Falls, Mn. for a three-day tournament beginning Monday.
Their next home game will be a NorWOSSA battle Jan. 14 against the Kenora Broncos.
