Hudson Thornton was sightseeing in Edinburgh, tagging along with his family for an offseason vacation.

On a tourist walk through Scotland’s capital city in July, Thornton felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He was getting a call from Bemidji State men’s hockey associate head coach Travis Winter.

The conversation was brief.

“He said, ‘Hey, you’re good to go,” Thornton recalled. “I looked at my mom and said, ‘Well, I should probably get in the gym.”

It was a moment that was hard to comprehend for Thornton.

Roughly three months earlier, he had played his 50th professional hockey game with the Orlando Solar Bears in the ECHL. Thornton believed his chance to play NCAA hockey had come and gone.

But change begets new life for those bold enough to take risks. Two eligibility rule changes s

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