With the football season completed and the hockey season beginning, senior Mason West closed out his career with Edina. He left a mark as an outstanding multi-sport athlete in football and hockey and will now continue his hockey career in the juniors league on Fargo Force before continuing to D1 hockey and then on to the NHL.
When West was younger, he “thought about sports as just having fun” and did not think about them much until he began high school.
Senior Sam Peckham, West’s hockey teammate and good friend, said he remembers often playing pond hockey together when they were younger.
“At Concord, we were playing recess hockey, and he chipped my tooth with his stick, so my tooth is half fake because he broke it,” Peckham said. “So always battling against him has been fun and some of the best memories ever.”
Time in Edina sports
In freshman year, West joined the varsity football and hockey teams. On the football team, he was a backup quarterback and one of the youngest, so he said he was shy to speak up.
Edina Varsity Football Head Coach Jason Potts met West as a middle school student and said he has since found him to demonstrate the team’s “core values”: effort, attitude, resiliency, focus, and execution.
“He is extremely coachable which makes it so much fun to design an offense around,” Potts said. “It’s very easy to coach Mason because he’s always doing the right thing, and it’s very rewarding to have him on our team.”
Quarterback coach Josh Flug also witnessed West’s development as an athlete and leader, noting his growth in making quick decisions “faster and better through each and every year.”
Along with the development he’s made as a football player throughout high school, West also had huge success with EHS hockey with multiple state tournament appearances and a championship in 2024.
“It was a super surreal feeling. You kind of just throw your gloves up in the air, and you just get to hug all your teammates. You don’t even really know what to do,” West said.
Apart from winning the state championship his sophomore year, in his final season as a junior EHS hockey player, he was able to lead the team with 49 points, including 27 goals and 22 assists.
Boys’ Hockey Assistant Varsity Coach Greg Aslakson said West has the “hockey sense” and that he sees “big things down the road” from West.
West’s next direction
At the end of his junior year, after the hockey season had ended, West switched to online school to finish off the semester, while leaving to play in the USHL with Fargo Force.
“It’s weird,” West said, “[and] it’s definitely different. There’s more flexibility with time, but having to email teachers to ask questions takes a little bit more time. But it’s nice, you can do things on your own time and kind of eat food whenever.”
West took online courses to finish his requirements and graduate a semester early to play with Fargo Force before playing at the collegiate level with Michigan State.
Last June, West attended the NHL draft and was selected 29th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks.
“[Making it to the NHL] has definitely been a goal and a dream of mine since I was a little kid,” West said. “Especially being drafted to Chicago, and always being a fan, it was cool to get drafted by a team that I was comfortable and excited about. A couple of players texted me, so it’s nice to know them a little bit.”
West, who was often met with commentary about his potential in college and professional football instead of hockey, was met at home with support from his football coaches.
“If he puts his mind to anything, he can do anything,” Flug said. “I’m very excited to see him grow more and become even a more dynamic hockey player because he’s just scratching the surface of his potential. But at the same time, he always excels when he has to push himself to get to the next level.”
A final send-off
Despite West’s firm sights on professional hockey, he decided to return for a final season as a Hornet this fall to win a state championship.
Before the football state championship, West said he was motivated by the potential to win it after losing in finals his sophomore year.
“That’s why I came back,” he said, “to just be with my friends for one more year and cherish these moments with my teammates.”
And, after a stellar performance in the semifinals game, West and the Edina Football team secured Edina’s first state title in football since 1978.
“[Winning the state championship with West] was huge,” senior Chase Bjorgaard, West’s teammate, said. “The fact that he came back was super important to our team. It meant a lot to us and showed that he cared about us. So being able to play next to him was a great experience.”
While West’s final football season marked his end with Edina, his two championships and time as a Hornet have been formative to his career.
“You don’t really know how to feel in those moments. You just show a lot of emotion because of all the hard work that you guys put in throughout the year,” West said. “We’ve been together since third grade all the way through high school, so the biggest thing was being able to share that special moment with my teammates.”
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on Dec. 18, 2025
