The Esmark Stars AAA Hockey midget teams will open the 2020 portion of the 2019-2020 schedule this upcoming weekend, Jan. 4 - 5, as they return to action following a holiday break.

The U15 Stars (15-15-2-1) will travel to Annville, PA, to visit the Palmyra Black Knights (32-7-2-2) for a pair of games, the conclusion of their season home-and-home series. The Stars and Knights will drop the puck on Saturday with a 5:00 p.m. opening face-off at the Kiick Arena. The clubs will conclude the weekend series on Sunday with an 11:45 a.m. game time at Kiick Arena.

In mid-September, the U15 Stars defeated Palmyra 5-3 in the opening game in Pittsburgh. The two clubs skated to a 2-2 tie in the second game.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, the U16 and U18 Stars will welcome Mid-American District rival Cleveland Barons to the friendly confines of Pittsburgh Ice Arena to close out the backend of the season's home-and-home series between the two clubs.

On Saturday, Jan. 4, the U16 Stars (26-14-0-1) and U16 Barons (12-12-0-4) will open their two-game set with a 4:30 p.m. opening face-off. The two squads will conclude their weekend series with a 9:20 a.m. face-off.

The two midget minor squads met in Cleveland in late October splitting the two game series, as the Barons captured the opener 3-1 and the Stars game two 4-2.

The U18 Esmark Stars (31-3-4-3) and U18 Cleveland Barons (8-15-0-2) will open their weekend series on Saturday with a 6:30 p.m. opening face-off. The two squads will conclude the weekend series with an 11:20 a.m. puck drop.

The two midget major squads met in Cleveland in late October, with the Stars winning both games by identical scores of 2-1.

Both games are open to the public and admission is free.