Prior Lake has lost in the Section 2AA semifinals the last four seasons, including that first time in 2011. Edina and Burnsville have each ended the Lakers' season twice before the section final.

Edina has won the last seven section crowns and has won back-to-back Class AA state titles. The Hornets are the heavy favorite again this winter. 

But this time, Prior Lake wants to be the other team facing Edina (if it gets there again) on the Mariucci Arena ice in Minneapolis in the Section 2AA title game.

"There's no doubt we have high expectations," said Lakers coach Joe Pankratz, who is entering his sixth season as coach. "On paper, this is the most depth and talent we've ever had."

The Lakers finished 9-8 in the South Suburban Conference last year and was 11-15-1 overall. It had 17 and 16 win seasons the previous two years, respectively.

Prior Lake endured a few injuries late last year. At one point, the team was 8-6-1 before ending the season 3-9. The Lakers will open the season without one of their scorers from last year in senior Will Reedy (9 goals, 21 assists). He suffered a knee injury during Elite League play in the fall.

Sophomore Kevin Fellows is the Lakers' top scorer back from last year (12 goals, 11 assists), along with junior Connor Clemons (9 goals, 9 assists) and junior Curtis Hansen (6 goals, 8 assists).

They look to open the season as the No. 1 line.

Senior Tyler Bump also had a good season for the Lakers last year (6 goals, 5 assists). He'll be joined on a line with seniors Hayden Maxfield and Derek Daugaard.

"We should be a lot sharper offensively," said Pankratz. "The skill level of this group from top to bottom is the highest we've had. We're deep on defense too."

Defensively, the Lakers also have some strong returning players in seniors Lincoln Eiter and Andrew Moran and juniors Matt Denman and Noah Beer.

In goal, juniors Drew Scites and Benny Smith will battle for time. Scites played in the High Performance Hockey League last year in Michigan. 

"He's really good and Benny up from our junior varsity has really improved," said Pankratz. "I feel really good about both of our goalies."

Pankratz also feels really good about his sophomore class. It's one of the strengths of the program, starting with Fellows.

Sophomores Ryan Murray and Jack Harris are expected to have an impact on defense. Sophomore Chase Gackel is expected to provide more depth to the top-three lines, along with senior Joey Schlink and junior Jack Schulze.

Prior Lake will open the season Nov. 25 in SSC play at home versus Lakeville South at 7 p.m. Prior Lake is at Eden Prairie Nov. 29, before playing host to Bloomington Jefferson Dec. 6 in a battle of Section 2AA foes.

Jefferson is no longer in the SSC, moving the to the new Metro West Conference with Kennedy. SSC's two new teams are Farmington and Shakopee.

The Lakers are also scheduled to play in the Sports Authority Tournament Dec. 29-31 at the St. Louis Park Recreational Center. They'll face three good teams in the round-robin - Benilde-St. Margaret's, Holy Family and Moorhead.