Finally, pucks are being dropped

A year ago, the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls hockey team completed a season for the ages by going 27-4 and finishing as runner-up at the Minnesota High School Class A Girls Hockey Tournament. The 'Jacks graduated seven seniors off a team that set a school record for most wins in a season.

Gone from this year's team is last year's powerhouse line of Taylor Nelson, Kiana Bender and Dea DeLeon. Nelson is playing hockey at Division 1 Bemidji State and Bender and DeLeon are teammates on the University of Minnesota-Duluth softball team.

"We lost a significant amount of seniors so we are excited to see what this year brings," said CEC coach Courtney Esse. "We have some young players who will be stepping into big roles and we are excited to see how they perform. Our goal is always to be playing our best hockey by playoff time, so we expect there will be an adjustment for the younger players to the pace of the game to start the year."

While they lost a significant number of players to graduation, the cupboard is not bare for the Lumberjacks this season.

"We are returning nine varsity players," Esse said. "Araya Kiminski (G) and Tenley Stewart (D) are our only returning starters. Kiminski, Stewart and Dana Jones (F) all played significant roles throughout the year last year and we would expect the same this year."

CEC rode the hot goaltending of Kiminski in their playoff run last season and expectations are she could be even better this year. Stewart will anchor the blue line and Jones scored some key playoff goals last season in the march to the final.

As with other teams, the pandemic will change how the young 'Jacks will do everyday business this coming season.

"We will be wearing masks, coming to the rink dressed in gear for practice and games and remaining socially distanced as much as possible," said Esse. "Obviously this situation with Covid isn't ideal, but we are trying to make the best of it and are just fortunate to be able to have an opportunity to play this year."

CEC boys

There were glimpses last year of what could have been with the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys hockey team. CEC went 13-11-1 and gave problems to just about any team they played.

"We graduated six seniors last year, we had one player move on to juniors and one player, Sam Baker has moved on to play year- round golf," said CEC head coach Shea Walters.

Despite those eight losses the Lumberjacks have some key players returning this season, many talented seniors among them. That might be enough to take the next step toward becoming a top contender for a section title, if a section tournament is played.

"We have a great group of core players returning this year and most of our seniors have all played significant time the last couple years at the varsity level. We have several players that we will lean on this year to lead our team," he said, naming Cade Anderson, Hunter Finnila, Logan Dushkin, Jax Ochis, Brayden and Zach Tyman, Travis Berg, Brock House and Jacob Walsh. "We also have a good group of juniors and some good sophomores coming up that we are expecting good things from."

With a good nucleus returning, the coaching staff and players have set their goals high this season.

"Things will be different this year no doubt, but the goal remains the same," Walters said. "Set incremental goals throughout the season that are realistic and attainable and prepare for playoffs. We outplayed our opponent significantly in the playoffs last year and still ended up coming short. We will use that as motivation to make sure it doesn't happen again this year. We worked extremely hard this summer and have high expectations and hopes for these young men."

CEC started practice on Monday and will play its first game Jan. 14 against an always tough Grand Rapids squad, but it is the constant looming threat of Covid that lurks in the shadows as the season begins.

"Like others, it has instilled that you cannot take anything for granted," Walters said. "It has lit a fire of motivation and the kids are hungry to play, compete and win. We are excited to get going this year. It has been a long delay, but we are excited."

Moose Lake Area girls

The Rebels are looking to kick in the door as this hockey season begins. Playing a roster of mostly seventh- and eighth-graders a year ago, the Rebels took CEC to the edge in the playoffs before losing a one-goal game to the team that finished as runner-up in Class A in the Minnesota State Girls Hockey Tournament.

"If anything, that outcome should show us that we can compete with one of the top teams in the state," said co-head coach Reilly Fawcett. "We just have to go out there and play our game."

After going 12-13 last year, the Rebels expect a vast improvement after graduating only four players. But they were a huge part of the team.

"Jamie Benzie was a forward senior captain with 43 points," Fawcett said. "Savannah Gamst was also a senior captain with 16 points. Lexi Bonneville, also a forward and senior captain, had 15 points. Jo Wekseth was our senior goalie who played a total of 1037:57 minutes and had a .904 save percentage. All of these seniors were a strong part of our team and showed great leadership throughout the season."

While those losses were great, the Rebels youth program has produced some of the best young players in the area over recent years. Some key players coming back include juniors Raechel Painovich, Gabbie Gamst and Julia Jusczak, and eighth grader Sandra Ribich.

They focus on the process and not the outcome, Fawcett said. "That means focusing and working hard every day in practice to make themselves and their teammates better. Doing the little things that change into bigger things. ... I don't care if the other team is more skilled; we will be the hardest working team on the ice."

With the fear of a potential shutdown due to Covid, the Rebels are staying focused on what matters most.

"Covid has definitely changed a lot of attitudes, but I think in a good way," said Fawcett. "This pandemic has really shown us that time is limited and we need to make the most out of it."

Fawcett says the program takes Covid very seriously. They are doing temperature checks, daily logs, symptom monitoring, etc., and added that the restriction of air flow and breathing from wearing masks all the time is going to be something that the girls will have to get used to.

Moose Lake Area boys

After going 6-18 last season the Moose Lake Area Rebels expect a lot more wins this season. Why? Because the Rebels will return a huge crew of 10 varsity players from last season.

"We lost two key players in Jordan Fjosne and Jack Ergen," said coach Lee Costley of last year's seniors. "Jordan is presently playing Junior A hockey. We will be missing Jordan's play-making skills and Jack's ability to do everything well."

However, the young Rebels are loaded with talent this year and hope to parlay that into some magical moments on the ice.

"We will be a younger team with a good number of kids coming up from our bantam program," Costley said, remarking that it's the first time they've been able to increase the participation numbers due to the program he started.

Returning 10 varsity players is also a first for the team under Costley.

"Over the last four seasons, we had a roster that was hovering above and below that number. All of these returning players saw significant ice time due to the fact that most games we had five or six forwards and three or four defensemen."

Costley points out that Adam Olson, Henry Ribich, Jeff Cisar, Paxton Vogel are expected to be key cogs in the machinery for the Rebels this season.

"This group has the ability to surprise a few teams this season if everyone buys in," Costley said.

The first scheduled game for the Rebels is at home against Ashland at 5 p.m. Jan. 16.

Costley hopes to keep the pandemic from dampening their season.

"Covid has definitely made things challenging and we are having a couple of players not playing due to Covid concerns," said Costley. "We are being overly diligent with our approach to masking and social distancing. The initial struggle has been with players wearing masks. During our first practice, masks were freezing up, so we are looking at ways to improve that."

Once that little mask problem is solved, look for the Rebels to hit the ice flying and ready to make a mark in local hockey circles this season.

"This group really has the ability to have a great season, but we just need everyone to be smart with regards to Covid concerns as well as be smart in the classroom and maintain academic eligibility," Costley said. "I really like how our program has grown over the last four seasons, both in high school participation and overall youth hockey participation. The participation increase has grown every year, and we have been able to keep our kids in the program."