Kadin Ferguson is Duluth Denfeld's Energizer Bunny.

The description derived from a battery commercial is used in hockey to denote a player whose effort and energy is seemingly endless.

That's the role Ferguson fills for the Hunters, and he does it so well that it is no surprise he leads the team in goals (9) and assists (8), totals he reached after being involved in three of Duluth Denfeld’s four scores in Thursday night’s 4-0 win over Lake Superior Conference rival Proctor.

The endearing term, however, fails to fully describe Ferguson because he has far more stamina than that pink bunny.

A two-year starter at wide receiver for the Hunters football team, the senior broke his hand during the first game this fall. Even though it has yet to heal, the hand hasn't kept Ferguson from missing any hockey games this winter.

“A broken hand will heal in time, but it’s a long way from the heart,” Ferguson said.

The injury didn’t keep him off of the football field either. He caught four touchdowns while wearing a cast, and he's doing more than just contributing to the hockey team — one that lost last season's top scorers.

He wears a plastic cuff on the hand when he's on the ice. 

“It definitely affects my shot a lot,” said Ferguson, who has four more goals than anyone on the team and a team-best 17 points so far this season. He finished with 15 points (5 G, 10 A) last year.

Effort has thrust him into his role as the team's powerpack.

“Kadin brings a lot of energy every night. He’s a hard-nosed kid. He’s not the most gifted skater, but boy, when you get shifts out of him, you see him do something with every shift,” Hunters coach Kevin Smalley said.

Duluth Denfeld employs every last bit of energy Ferguson has, playing him on both the team’s penalty-kill and power-play units.

Those groups were key in the win over Proctor as 13 penalties were called in the game.

“He understands what we want him to do, and he’s been around here for a while," Smalley said. "He’s a guy we go to in crucial situations."

That was evident on Thursday. Ferguson was not only on the ice as Duluth Denfeld killed a 5-on-3 situation in the second period but also when the Hunters scored both of their power-play goals.

Despite the broken hand causing him pain on occasion, Ferguson said he plans to grind through it until hockey season is over.

“It’s senior year, I don’t want to miss any games for hockey or football,” Ferguson said.

The victory over the Rails was the Hunters' first Lake Superior Conference win of the season and elevates their record to 7-7-1.

Smalley admits that it’s been difficult to generate offense after losing key players from last year’s team that went 18-7 during the regular season.

“That’s where we’ve been struggling. We’re not giving up a lot defensively,” Smalley said.

But he has found an offensive force in Ferguson, who is making the most of his first year playing exclusively on the varsity team.

“We’ve had go-to guys for the last couple years. But he was an important part of last year’s success, and he’s certainly an important part this year,” Smalley said. 

Duluth Denfeld senior Kadin Ferguson finished with a goal and two assists in the Hunters’ 4-0 win over Lake Superior Conference rival Proctor at the Heritage Sports Center on Thursday.

It was an unsurprisingly physical game between the league foes, with a total of 13 penalties—including two game misconducts and a major penalty— called in the game.

However, only Duluth Denfeld was able to profit from them.

After Adam Shykes got the Hunters on the board late in the first period, Ferguson scored a power-play goal off of a rebound early in the second. Subsequent goals from Ben Kidd and Luke Eilefson all but put the game out of reach for Proctor before the end of the second.

Despite trailing 4-0, the Rails came out firing in the third. John Aase had a few good looks, but whatever momentum Proctor had built was lost when Jake Malec picked up a major penalty at the 10-minute mark.

Duluth Denfeld coasted the rest of the way, recording its first conference win of the year.

The Hunters' River Alander stopped all 21 shots he faced while the Rails' Braxton Sathers stopped 36 of 40. 

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