On the ground floor of Pagel Arena, long after a full (but not packed) house had emptied, dance music raged and flashing lights bounced off the walls of the Minnetonka dressing room. 

Happy times are back for the Skippers, No. 3 in Legacy’s Class AA preseason rankings, as Minnetonka rolled past Lakeville South 6-3 Thursday night at Pagel Arena, and confidently skated into the season looking to reclaim its accustomed spot atop the Lake Conference, the metro and the state.

There aren’t many places where a winning season (14-11-2) causes a letdown. But at Minnetonka, where the Skippers have won two state championships in the last eight years, last winter was not something to get used to.

“We’re hungry,” senior captain Jordan Johnson says. “Last year was mediocre, and that motivated us to work harder. We’ve got 25 guys here that are starving to get after it.”

Johnson, a gritty center who Minnetonka coach Sean Goldsworthy praises for his two-way prowess, scored a goal and an assist in the victory. The team got behind him to outrun Lakeville South with its speed and pressure, then it showed some versatility. 

The Skippers blocked shots, killed penalties (aside from allowing two goals on a major) and played a flavor of physicality not typical on opening night in November.

“Junkyard dogs,” Johnson says. “We are ready to get after it, and ready to get physical.”

Minnetonka outshot its guests 40-31 and led for all but five minutes.

It was an emphatic start to the season following an offseason where things just didn’t sit right at Pagel Arena. All throughout the summer and captain’s practice, the Skippers eagerly waited Lakeville South.

“Right when last season ended, we’ve been looking forward to this,” said senior goaltender Chase Jerdee. “We’ve used that as motivation, and it’s shown up in practice, and it showed up tonight.”

Jerdee stopped 28 shots in his first season as the top man in net. Last year as a backup for the Skippers, Jerdee went 3-1 in five games with a 2.50 GAA and .897 save percentage.

Minnetonka returns three of its top four leading scorers from a year ago, including its top goal scorer in Caden Lindsey (12-15-27) and its top set-up man, Johnson (6-17-23).

Scoring was down, as nobody had more than 30 points, and the team averaged 3.89 goals per game, the lowest in five years.

“Last year, it was maybe more of a reload,” Goldsworthy says. “Some kids got some playing time, and that is going to help us this year. We’re a lot deeper.”

In spite of the offensive showing, Goldsworthy will point to areas typical of early season lapses. This year, Nov. 20 seemed to creep up on everyone just a bit quicker.

“We’ve never played a game earlier than we have at this point,” he said. “So we looked undisciplined and unorganized at times. But we scored six goals and put on 40 shots, so we can build off this.” 

Minnetonka started fast and finished strong to cap off a 6-3 victory over Lakeville South in season-opening action Thursday night at Pagel Arena.

Max Aronson scored twice and Jordie Johnson added a goal and an assist to lead the Skippers, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A.

Calvin O’Reilly scored two goals and added an assist for Lakeville South, and Carter Ernst chipped in a goal and an assist.

Minnetonka (1-0-0) scored four goals in the first, then worked through a five-minute major in the second period while senior goaltender Chase Jerdee stopped 28 of 31 in net for the Skippers.

No. 15-2A Lakeville South (0-1-0) goalie Keaton LaGrande made 34 saves on 40 shots.