FARGO — Mason West will be returning to Fargo to play with the Force of the USHL this season, Fargo coach Brett Skinner said Monday.
“He’s coming,” Skinner said. “We don’t know the date. He’s all set as far as everything goes.”
West is an exceptional two-sport athlete who on Friday led Edina to the Minnesota Class 6A high school football championship against Moorhead. The 6-foot-6, 218-pound West was drafted in the first round last summer by the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL Entry Draft.
West played 10 games with the Force last spring after Moorhead beat Edina 4-3 in the state high school semifinals, a game in which West had a natural hat trick in the first period. After putting up 49 points with the Hornets last season, West had a goal and eight assists with Fargo.
Since then, West has become a national sensation, appearing on
former NFL coach Jon Gruden’s show
earlier this fall to recently joining the “Spittin’ Chicklets” hockey podcast on Monday.
West is a Michigan State commit in hockey and he revealed he was not contacted by the hometown Gophers hockey program.
“I really never got recruited from Minnesota, they never reached out or anything,” West told the Spittin’ Chicklets panel.
Skinner said he has remained in contact with West throughout the fall.
With Thanksgiving this week, the Force play at Sioux Falls on Wednesday before opening a weekend series at home against the Chicago Steel on Friday and Saturday.
West will be the first NHL first-rounder to play for the Force since Riley Tufte. The former Blaine (Minn.) star was selected by Dallas as the 25th overall pick in 2016 after splitting that winter playing for Force and returning to the Bengals to complete his high school career.
Rob Beer is the sports editor for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. He’s been a journalist with Forum Communications since 1991. He can be reached at rbeer@forumcomm.com.