LEO-CEDARVILLE, Ind. - A local hockey player is up for the state’s top honor.
Leo Lions forward Carter Bonecutter is nominated for for the Indiana High School Hockey Player of the Year. The award, given by The Indianapolis Star sports department, will be handed out Sunday in Indianapolis during the IndyStar Sports Awards ceremony.
“It’s really motivated me,” Bonecutter, a junior, says of the nomination. “It’s nice to compliment my hard work and all the people who have helped me along the way.”
Bonecutter scored 31 goals and 41 assists in 35 games for Leo this past season. The Lions were 2A state runners-up and Memorial Cup city runners-up. Carter was nominated by his father and Leo head coach, Doug Bonecutter.
“My dad has a good understanding of the game, so it’s great to learn from him. And it was really flattering for him to nominate me and showing that he really believes in me.”
Bonecutter also golfs and plays tennis at Leo. In the community, Bonecutter and his teammates have helped out at multiple Fort Wayne food banks. He has volunteered at sled hockey travel hockey events at the SportONE/Parkview Icehouse.
He plays travel hockey for the Parkview Sports Medicine Force 18U team that qualified for nationals earlier this month.
Leo Lions hockey and the PSM Force teams are members of the Fort Wayne Amateur Hockey Association, which partners with Parkview Sports Medicine for more ice time, weekly hockey skills sessions, dry-land sports performance training and athletic training services.