Snapshots of the 2025-26 Devils Lake boys’ hockey team. (Photos by Cameron Carlson)
Last winter, an up-and-down hockey season for Devils Lake ended just short of the team’s goal.
The Firebirds were one win away from state.
This season, the goal is unchanged.
“We want to make state this year,” said the team’s leading returning goal scorer, Weston Stromme. “We’re ready to go.”
Devils Lake was the preseason No. 7 in the EDC coaches poll. But, as the football team showed this fall, hard work can override projections and rankings. The football team entered this season in sort of a similar situation, coming off a good but not great year. The Firebirds were projected to go 1-8. They ended up winning the first state football title in Devils Lake history.
“If we can put three periods together every single day, we’re going to put ourselves in an opportunity to make a state championship,” Firebirds hockey coach Landyn Swenson said. “And anything can happen from there.”
Similar to last year, Devils Lake got off to a fast start in late November and early December. The Firebirds won four of their first five games of the season. The only loss in that span was a 5-3 defeat to the always-powerful Grand Forks Central.
Despite graduating all-state goalie Brody Forsberg and two of their top offensive players in Brody Parker and Logan Stokke, the Firebirds are still doing well in numbers. And they bring another squad they hope to compete with.
“I feel like we’ve got a lot of depth, and we’ve got a lot of good young players on our team this year,” Stromme said.
Stromme is now an upperclassman, as a junior. He had 15 goals and 22 assists last year.
Stromme began this season with four goals and six assists in his first five games.
“I’ll take him with about anyone in the state going in on a one-on-one with the goalie,” Swenson said. “And he showed that last year, and he’s going to continue to show that this year.”
The Firebirds’ other top offensive player also happens to be named Weston.
Senior Weston Nelson, a wide receiver on the football team, leads Devils Lake in points through the first four games. He had nine goals and 27 assists last season.
Being a year apart, both standout hockey players and both named Weston, Stromme said the two of them are pretty close.
“We’ve been playing with each other all our life, so we’ve got a good chemistry,” Stromme said.
The Westons scored nine combined goals through five games. They also provided assists on each other’s goals five times.
Senior Jackson Schumacher also came out hot this year with six assists in the first five games. Schumacher and senior Braxton Boline are captains. Nelson is a senior leader alongside them as well.
“They’re very hard workers. They’re our leaders on the team,” Swenson said. “We picked them as leaders, and they show up every single day, working as hard as they can in order for the team to be successful.”
Having lost the seniors they did, there are some rotating pieces for the Firebirds. Kids like Nash Riggin and Hayden Volk are getting their first varsity minutes.
But Swenson is confident in the youth hockey program Devils Lake has built.
“They’re working over the summer. They’re working during practice,” Swenson said. “They’re putting themselves in an opportunity to be successful. And I think we’re on the right path.”
Going past the goals and assists, perhaps the biggest change on this team is in the net. Forsberg had been their ever-reliable goal-stopper back there over the last three years. In his senior season, he posted a save rate of more than 91% and was named all-state. His career highlights included a resilient performance to beat No. 1-ranked Grand Forks Central.
With Forsberg gone, senior Matt Graue is now the starting goalie.
Through five games, Graue has held his own. He’s made 118 saves in 136 shot attempts, good for an 86.8% save rate. He helped the Firebirds outlast Bottineau/Rugby, Jamestown, Fargo Shanley and West Fargo Sheyenne.
“In practice, he’s going to work his butt off every single day. So, I mean, that’s all we can ask from a goalie, and our job is to protect in front of the net and give him the opportunity to see the puck. And I think, the majority of the time, he’s going to save the puck,” Swenson said. “He’s a leader in the locker room as well, as a senior. Hasn’t had a lot of opportunities, but he comes to work every day and pushes him and his teammates and the rest of the goalie corps in order to help us win games.”
So, despite losing some key players, Devils Lake is adjusting well with a little bit of a different look. The Firebirds, coming off some competitive seasons, are trying to get over the hump to join the state tournament field in Grand Forks at the end of the season.
And if they do that, then anything can happen.
