Bloomington Jefferson at Prior Lake
7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 6

Bloomington Jefferson fans will recognize a familiar face behind the No. 10-2A Prior Lake bench, as former star Joe Pankratz leads his Lakers (0-1-1) against the Jaguars Saturday night. Pankratz won a state title in 1992 as a sophomore at Jefferson before leaving early for junior hockey.

Four years ago, he was hired as the coach at Prior Lake and now goes head-to-head with his former team in the Class 2A, Section 2 playoffs every winter. The Lakers have played two tight games to start the year, tying Lakeville South and losing an overtime thriller at Eden Prairie. Junior Connor Clemons has a goal in each game.

Bloomington Jefferson (2-0-0) hosted a pair of northeastern Minnesota programs last weekend and came away with two wins, beating Duluth Denfeld 7-1 on Friday night and Cloquet-Esko-Carlton 3-2 on Saturday. Senior Charlie Straus exploded with four goals in the Denfeld game and is key to the Jaguars’ offense, which is reloading after graduating its top three scorers from last year.