Cloquet-Esko-Carlton at Duluth East
6 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 11

The Heritage Arena in Duluth will be a fun place to be this Thursday night, as a doubleheader featuring four of the top programs in northeastern Minnesota are on the schedule. It starts with a 6 p.m. game between longtime Class 2A, Section 7 rivals Cloquet-Esko-Carlton (2-4-0) and No. 10 Duluth East (1-1-1). No matter the records and relative strengths of the teams, this game always seems to be a barn-burner.

Duluth East has had the edge in recent years and has made six consecutive state tournament appearances. The ‘Hounds come in hungry after a 2-2 tie at Andover last week, that despite outshooting the Huskies 43-18. Goal scoring was expected to be the team’s strength, but the ‘Hounds have tallied just six in three games, led by junior Ash Altmann (2-1-3).

The Lumberjacks have already played six games as coach Dave Esse has tested his team early. But after winning the first two games of the season, Cloquet-Esko-Carlton has dropped four straight while only scoring five total goals. Dylan Johnson (5-2-7) leads the Lumberjacks in scoring and has three of the team’s five goals in that span.