Mason West still has one more season of football to play before he gets on with his hockey career.
At the NHL Combine, West told reporters that he’ll be returning to Edina High School (Minn.) this fall to play his senior season in pursuit of a state championship.
“I’ll play football in the fall and then head to Fargo (of the United States Hockey League),” West told NHL.com. “It was really important for me to play football as a senior with my friends. I always set goals for the year, and that was to win a state high school hockey championship and also a football championship.
“I haven’t done it in football so I kind of want to achieve that and stay loyal to my team because I think they need me.”
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West’s USHL rights are held by Fargo, and he has also committed to the Michigan State college hockey program.
Eventually, his destination appears to be the Chicago Blackhawks.
They took the 6-foot-6 dual-sport athlete with the 29th overall pick in Friday night’s NHL Draft first round.
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In his junior season at Edina, West scored 27 goals as a center, and in football, he threw 37 touchdowns.
“Fargo really gave me that experience of what the hockey path could look like,” West said. “Obviously, they don’t have that in football, so I got to see what the next step is for a hockey career, and I want to pursue that. I think I can get way better when I really focus on one sport.”
Given that West just finished his junior season in high school, there’s plenty of time before he has to make it to Chicago. But the Blackhawks will be watching eagerly from afar as this supreme athlete tries to climb the ladder to the NHL.
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