MUSKEGON – The Muskegon Lumberjacks will have their first home game of the 2026-27 season on Friday night, and will once again raise a championship banner.

Last year the Jacks raised the ultimate banner after winning the USHL Clark Cup championship in 2024-25. This year it will be the league’s Eastern Conference championship banner, which they earned by advancing to the Clark Cup finals last season before falling to Sioux Falls.

Lumberjacks head coach Colten St. Clair said fans will see the same type of gritty team on the ice this season, albeit with a lot of new faces to go with the returners.

The Jacks will host the Team USA 18-Under squad at Trinity Health Arena at 7:10 p.m.

“I want the people to see that our guys are fast, fearless and poised,” said St. Clair, whose team is 1-1-0 after competing in the season-opening USHL Fall Classic last week. “That is what the city of Muskegon is, and all the good teams embody what community they are playing in. We want to make this the hardest place to play, and we want to continue to be a great performer.”

Muskegon has eight players returning from last year’s squad, but it will start with a total reset, according to St. Clair.

“You are starting over with some guys, and you don’t want to look back, because it can be easy to overthink things,” the coach said. “We want to make sure the guys are getting better each day, and we want to improve things on our identity.

“We want to put the guys into a better position to score goals. We want to focus on uncovering some of the details to improve on that.”

The Lumberjacks will be led by captain Rudolfs Berzkalns, who scored 13 goals in 48 games in the regular season last year, then added another four goals during the playoffs.

Berzkalns was drafted in the second round of the 2026 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers, and will play in an NHL preseason contest on Thursday with the Oilers, before making his season debut for Muskegon on Saturday night.

“What a way for our leader to learn from players like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, to see how those guys prepare,” St. Clair said. “That information is valuable for our group, and it’s powerful that he can bring that back.”

“His captaincy was well earned. He has always been a responsible player, and he has earned the right to be that guy.”

Muskegon will also have forwards Anthony Thomas-Maroon, Louis Jonerheim, Gustas Zemaitis and Will Schlechtweg returning from last season.

Thomas-Maroon played in 59 games for the Lumberjacks last season and recorded two goals while Jonerheim played in 24 games and produced one goal and 10 assists.

Zemaitis played 39 games with two goals and three assists, and Schlechtweg played 25 games and had one goal and three assists .

“We needed to have some players who had a sour taste in their mouths (from losing in the finals) to come back,” St. Clair said. “Those guys can help out the new players, who have to learn what my standards are.”

One of the new players to watch this season is forward Zaac Charbonneau, who already stamped his fingerprints on the team by scoring a game-winning overtime goal in the USHL Fall Classic last week.

Charbonneau scored 72 goals last season in 81 games for multiple teams in the lower levels of junior hockey.

Charbonneau is the nephew of Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere, who played 17 seasons in the NHL for the Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche.

“What people don’t see about him is his character,” St. Clair said. “He has a lot of leadership qualities, and you can tell he has been around NHL rooms for a long period of time with his uncle. He is also a big piece, and I can’t wait to see what he can do.”

The Lumberjacks will also have two defensemen returning – Teddy Lechner and Lars Hutson.

Lechner, who was drafted in the fifth round by the Colorado Avalanche, played in 21 games for the Lumberjacks last year, producing two assists and a rating of plus-7.

“Teddy (Lechner) has taken a step forward,” St. Clair said. “His brain is just elite, and his stick is elite as well.”

Hutson returns after playing 50 games for Muskegon last season, recording five points on five assists.

“He really has taken a nice step,” St. Clair said about Hutson. “He had a nice goal during the preseason.”

Muskegon will also have some exciting newcomers on defense, including Felix Farhammer, the seventh round draft pick of the New York Rangers, along with AJ Valenti and Cole Anderson.

The Lumberjacks return goaltender Samuel Doyon-Cataquiz, who played six games for Muskegon last year and posted a 2-2 record with 3.51 goals against average.

“Sammy is a gamer and there is a poise to his presence,” St. Clair said. “It goes a long way.”

Muskegon also will have Swedish goaltender Oscar Westman, who is also expected to see significant time between the pipes.

“Until someone takes over, I am very confident in playing both goalies,” St. Clair said. “It might depend on what team we are playing. They both have the ability to motivate each other, which is a healthy thing to have.”