Home on ice: Ukrainian athlete, 14, reunites with his passion in Sask. village's hockey academy

A 14-year-old hockey player from Ukraine is getting back to the game he loves with help from a coach and team in southwest Saskatchewan. 

Misha Shelipov says he was still practicing with his hockey team in Kharkiv the day before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

"My mother said, 'The war has started.' And to come home," Shelipov said. 

Fleeing bombs in their hometown of Dnipro, Shelipov said his family made their way to a smaller Ukrainian village before heading to Poland.

WATCH | Saskatchewan town helps a teen from Ukraine get back on the ice:

From there, they contacted a hockey agent in Switzerland. That connection led Shelipov to Barret Kropf in Caronport, Sask., a village of around 1,000 people located 24 kilometres northwest of Moose Jaw, Sask. 

"We got word there's a player that was looking to keep playing hockey and and find his way to Canada," Kropf said.

"So we put our hands up and said, 'Yeah, we'd love to have him be part of our program."

Kropf, who is originally from Estevan, Sask., was hired last June as the general manager and U15 prep head coach at Prairie Hockey Academy, Saskatchewan's first Hockey Canada accredited school, based in Caronport. 

Kropf started a GoFundMe to help with the relocation, and used Ottawa's fast-track system to get Shelipov and his mother, Zina, to Canada within the calendar year.

"His first question when we picked him up at the airport, in Regina on Dec. 18, was, 'Coach, when can I go to practice?' He eats, sleeps, and breathes hockey," Kropf said. 

Shelipov's mother now works at the local village bakery while the teen has started practising and playing with the U15 prep team.

"It's a very good team and I like my friends here," said Shelipov, who has found another reason to love his new country in the winter.

"In Canada, we can skate when we want. Like we can go to outdoor rink."