Whenever Marco Bodnarski hit the ice for the Parkland Bantam Rangers this past season, his presence was felt. He was the guy that was tasked with locking down the other team's players, and more often than not, the Dauphin native was successful in doing just that.

Now Marco is being rewarded for all of his hard work and commitment on the ice. Ahead of the MJHL draft, the Dauphin Kings have auto-protected two players. Marco is one of those players as he joins Dauphin's Rylan Gibbs as the two players that have been protected by the team heading into the draft. That means they can't be chosen by any other team.

In his first year with the Rangers this past season, Bodnarski racked up 10 points (1G) from the back end. The 10 points were 12th in team scoring. Just like Rylan, Marco grew up watching the Dauphin Kings and it's been his dream for a long time to become a member of the team. 

"Yeah, it was amazing receiving the call from Doug. It's honestly so special being a part of the home town team," said Bodnarski. "I can't wait for the future to come."

Just like Doug had solid things to say about Rylan, the Head Coach and GM of the Kings offered up some great comments about Marco as well.

"Marco is a very athletic, strong kid and he has some natural skill," added Hedley. "He hasn't played a lot of hockey. He didn't start really young but he's picked it up very well. He trains hard and he's another kid that's focused on getting better all the time."

Being one of the auto-protects with his teammate Rylan is also a special feeling for Bodnarski.

"We worked out all year and we really pushed ourselves knowing there was going to be two protected players at the end of the year," said Bodnarski. "It's definitely something special to me, and I'm looking forward to continuing to work hard with him."

Now it's time to get down to the grind for Marco. If he hopes to suit up for the Dauphin Kings moving forward, he knows a lot of work is needed to be done. He's already made it this far and he doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon.

"I'm definitely going to be working so much harder because I want to play for them," said Bodnarski. "My workouts need to be tougher and I need to get more skilled with the puck and some of the small things. Those are all factors of me making the team one day."

Marco will try out for the U18 Parkland Rangers in the fall.