By: Jared Hines

All photos in the article are courtesy of Brianna Burnham of 734_Visuals.

If you look at MN Hockey Hub’s points leaders for the 2024-2025 season, you’ll see three members of the Rogers Boys Hockey team on the list, all representing the team’s top line. The trio–Mason Jenson, Parker Deschene, and Keaton Weis–are a key part of the Royals success as the team takes an 11-1-1 record into 2025. 

“The three of us have known each other since we were kids,” Weis said. “We played together a little bit in bantams so there’s chemistry from that but I think we’ve taken it to a different level this year.” 

The Royals started the season with three straight wins, defeating Andover 2-1 before 5-2 wins over both Shakopee and White Bear Lake. The team’s sole loss this season came on Nov. 29 vs. St. Thomas Academy where the Royals lost 7-3. Since then, they have outscored opponents 65-17 and have been unbeaten in the last nine games.

“Our whole team has bought into the small details like back-checking, reloading, and forechecking,” Weis said before the Dec. 27 win vs. Minnetonka. “Our goalie–Wyatt Knott–has been unreal this year as well as our whole defensive core.” 

While the Royals have been impressive, to say the least, the success starts with the Jenson/Deschene/Weis line which has 112 points as a collective group. As of Dec. 31st, Jenson leads the state with 43 points (22 goals and 21 assists), while Deschene has 42 points (10 goals and 32 assists) and Weis has 27 points (14 goals and 13 assists). All three point totals rank in the top 12 of Class 2A in the State of Hockey. 

“Every day we play together; the more dialed and connected we are,” Weis said. “We understand each other’s strengths and play styles which helped develop our chemistry.” 

A lot of that chemistry had to be developed right when the season began and not in the fall because of the busy hockey schedules of the different players. Jenson was playing in the USHL and Deschene was playing in the NAHL, coming back to Rogers when the high school hockey season began. Since then, the team hasn’t skipped a beat, including wins vs. Lakeville South, Minnetonka, and Wayzata in the Premiere Holiday Classic. 

“Our team this year has a different mindset,” Weis said. “We don’t want to feel or go through what past years have been through. Our team tends to get taken lightly a little bit because of the past years and we know that. So we have the mindset of winning at all costs now.”