Wyatt Balmer of Northern Lakes selected 2025 Class A Herb Brooks Award recipient

Early in this prep hockey career, Northern Lakes senior defender Wyatt Balmer experienced some frustration on how opponents were covering him. 

Giving in to frustrations wasn’t an option. That was against his nature. Finding a way to cope and thrive became the focus. 

“He learned, with the help of his coaches to learn to persevere and adjust to how teams played against him,” Northern Lakes head coach Mike Randolph said. He took the strength of his game and his mind to overcome some of the frustrations that can come with being a (really) good hockey player and helped his team get stronger throughout the season and the playoffs.”

By channeling his energies into something positive rather than dwelling on the negative, Balmer was a key component in North Lakes’ capturing of the Section 6A championship and a berth in the Minnesota State High School League’s Boys Hockey State Tournament this week. 

For his exceptional leadership in a time of adversity, Balmer was selected as the 2025 Class A recipient of the Herb Brooks Award. 

The annual award is presented to a state tournament participant that strongly represents the values, characteristics and traits that defined Brooks, a St. Paul native who gained international fame as a hockey coach. The award commemorates the unending influence that Brooks had on the sport of hockey, not just in Minnesota, but throughout the world.

Balmer had four goals and assisted on 30 others for the Lightning in his senior season. 

“Wyatt is ‘other-centered’ not self-centered,” Randolph said. “The team is more important to Wyatt than individual accomplishments. Loyalty to his school and teammates is extremely important to Wyatt. He strives for the players on this team to become better. Whatever Wyatt can to do facilitate that growth is his contribution to the team.”