by A Minnesota college hockey team was forced to postpone its game after a thief stole more than two dozen hockey sticks, police say.
The Mankato West High School varsity hockey team initially had to forfeit its Heritage Holiday Classic tournament game against Anoka High School on Saturday after realizing more than 30 of the players’ sticks had been stolen.
Each hockey stick costs between $250 and $450 and most players own two sticks.
“I’m kind of in shock, you know, it’s a sad reality of where we are in this world right now,” said Mankato West Scarlets head coach Nate Olsen.Valley News Live after postponing the match. The sticks had been stored on the bus, Olsen said.
Around 10:50 p.m. Saturday, Duluth police responded to a report of stolen sticks. A few blocks from the reported theft, officers located a man walking with “a few of the items” that had been reported stolen. The man said he found the items behind a nearby homeless shelter, police said.
“The man did not match the description of the suspected individual and was booked into the county jail on an unrelated warrant,” authorities said.
Two days later, on Monday, Duluth police arrested Cole Saice, 23, who was charged with theft, according to St. Louis County Jail records. Authorities have returned more than 30 hockey sticks to the Mankato West team.
After the sticks were stolen, the local hockey community started a GoFundMe page to help raise money to replace the hockey sticks.
“Mankato West Hockey was a victim of bad actors who stole the player’s hockey sticks from their bus overnight,” the page states. “All funds above our requested goal will be used to support the Mankato High School hockey program and its athletes.”
The fundraiser raised nearly $6,000 before it closed.
The game against Anoka will be “made up later this season,” the team wrote in an X post. “Thank you to everyone who supported us over the last 24 hours. A big thumbs up to @DuluthMNPolice for their quick investigation and prosecution. We believe the majority of the missing sticks have been recovered – we are unsure of their condition. We will know more in the coming days. »
