How a Minnesota hockey league helped a Ukrainian refugee and her family feel at home: "I love this community"

When the war in Ukraine began, third grader Margo Biestuzheva and her mother fled the country, leaving behind everything they knew. When the duo finally reunited with her father in Minnesota, they found a new home thanks to a welcoming hockey team. 

Margo and her mother, Anastasiia Biestuzheva, were among the eight million people who left Ukraine after it was invaded by Russia. Margo's father Igor Rudyi was working in Minnesota, so the duo crossed into Poland and headed there. The journey took the mother-daughter pair seven months. 

Along the way, Margo maintained her favorite hobby: Playing the piano. Once she and her mother were settled in Minnesota, though, she saw a flyer for an ice hockey team and was immediately inspired.