An NHL Draft first-rounder at 17 years old.<\/p>\n
“It was a kind of a blackout situation for me,” said Mason West. “I don’t really know. It was a surreal moment.”<\/p>\n
West is from Edina, Minnesota, but he says going 29th overall in June to the Chicago Blackhawks was a full-circle scenario.<\/p>\n
“My dad is from Chicago,” said West. “He brought the Blackhawks era into our household along with the Bulls and Cubs. It’s kinda cool. I have family down in Chicago. So it’s all kinda worked out.”<\/p>\n
Last season on the ice was another good one for West and the Hornets. But they came up short, falling in the state semifinals.<\/p>\n
“It was tough because I want to win,” West said. “So if we don’t win the state championship, I don’t look at it as a failure, but I look at it as something that they can do next year.”<\/p>\n
West won’t play high school hockey as a senior; instead, he’ll head to juniors in Fargo. But he’s not quite done. West is running it back for one more season as the quarterback of the football team, because, unlike in hockey, he still hasn’t won a title in that sport.<\/p>\n
“Done that in hockey but not in football,” said West. “So I want to achieve my goals and stay loyal to my teammates. I think they really need me in order to win. So I’ll be there for them.”<\/p>\n
West could have played Division I football. He chose hockey and college at Michigan State. He decided between the two just last fall.<\/p>\n
“After the Fargo season ended, obviously, that experience and that game style. I just really thought I could make an impact at the next upcoming levels,” said West. “I think I develop fast and work really hard. So, right as I knew I could keep developing in that time span, I just decided to pursue hockey. It’s what I love to do.”<\/p>\n
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