For senior Malachi Bushey, hockey is more than an athletic pastime. His determination and passion for it has caused him to move from Arizona in order to pursue it.

“I did a bunch of little things for hockey over [this past] summer and that’s how I met the coach here,” he said. “He told me about the opportunity for high school students to play.”

Bushey has been involved in Hockey for 13 years and according to him, it’s all because of his father.

“My dad won tickets to a game when I was little. I liked it and wanted to learn how to skate,” he said.

Bushey is an offensive center on the Americans High School Hockey team in Great Falls. His team has a record of 8-2, in addition to two ties. The team practices an estimated 14 hours a week as well as playing 2 games most weeks.

“If I were in Arizona I wouldn’t be skating as much. There’s also better coaching and better players. It makes it more competitive,” he said.

Bushey has been living in Great Falls since Aug. 22, 2013 and will be here until March. According to him, he has enjoyed his time and plans on coming back.

“I either plan on coming back next year or playing somewhere else.”