The start of boys’ high school hockey practice and Thanksgiving typically arrive one after the other each year in the state of Minnesota.

The timeframe of the two holidays (hockey season, of course, being a holiday of its own in the State of Hockey) each November is fitting for Mounds View senior Cole Jacobs, as he sincerely thanks the game of hockey for helping him pull through a dire time in his young life.

“I would sit in the hospital and watch the Wild and Gophers, and be wanting to get out there super bad,” Jacobs said, referring to the first week of 2010, when he celebrated a new lease on life following a liver transplant.

“It was something he had success with at a young age, despite his illness,” Jacobs’ mother, Shelley, said of hockey’s healing power. “Hockey was something he has success at, and I think he clinged to it. It’s his lifeline and his escape.”

Jacobs was 9 years old at the time of the transplant. He turned 10 years old 26 days later, and soon after that, was back on the ice playing the game he loves.

“I was playing pond hockey the day before my transplant and was back on the ice six weeks after,” he said earlier this month following a captains’ practice with his Mounds View teammates. “When I got on the ice, I was super weak. I could barely stand up, and I couldn’t lift the puck.”

The first few days and weeks back on the ice following the surgery were not what he was used to, as his young body was not quite where it once was. But nonetheless, he was back where he wanted to be.

Jacobs needed that new liver because of a rare condition called biliary atresia, a disease in infants that causes the bile ducts to become inflamed and eventually blocked soon after birth. Unable to escape the liver, the bile builds up and destroys the liver cells, eventually causing cirrhosis, or scarring of the liver. About 1-in-18,000 kids are diagnosed with biliary atresia, which can be fatal by the age of 2 if not detected before the infant turns 8 weeks old.

“We thought it was regular baby jaundice, but we went to the doctor and realized he had this liver condition,” Shelley said. “We got a call from the doctor and he said they needed us at Children’s Hospital the next morning.”

The disease was detected in Jacobs at 6 weeks of age and he immediately had surgery – the Kasai procedure – to partially unblock the bile ducts. The procedure worked initially, but eventually Jacobs’ liver continued to disease, and at the age of 5, he went on the transplant list.

“I just had to wait until I was sick enough to actually get the call,” Jacobs said, referring to his four-plus years on the transplant list.
Jacobs’ number was finally called on Dec. 30, 2009. The next day he was in surgery, and 8 hours later, a new year had begun for everyone and a fresh start began for Jacobs.

“I woke up in the new year of 2010 with a new liver,” he said.
“It was a miracle,” Shelley said.

That miracle was followed by Jacobs’ recovery, which was spirited by his will and desire to get his mind back on hockey, and eventually his body back on the ice.

“The first day the television was able to go on, he watched the Wild,” Shelley said.

The love for hockey was instilled in Jacobs at an early age.

“Going to Wild games, I fell in love with it. Nana and papa have season tickets for the San Jose Sharks,” Jacobs said of his path to finding hockey. “I was on the ice when I was 2, and we had a pond in the backyard and we would skate around. From there, I pursued it and fell in love with it.”

He hasn’t stopped loving the game since.

Six weeks after the transplant, Jacobs was back on the ice, but was limited to stationary shooting.

Fast-forward 7 years – through Jacobs’ time with the Wayzata Youth Hockey Association, his freshman season of varsity hockey at Providence Academy, and his sophomore and junior campaigns at Mounds View – to present day, and those who see Jacobs buzzing around the ice this coming week and the rest of the season for Mounds View will have no idea anything was ever wrong with the highly-skilled forward.

The only indication of the liver transplant is hidden under his No. 17 Mustangs’ sweater, an upside-down T-shaped scar on Jacobs’ abdomen.

“I’ve been pretty healthy,” said Jacobs, who goes in for monthly blood draws and will have to manage anti-rejection medications the rest of his life. “Something can always pop up, but I don’t really worry. I don’t go around thinking about that.”

Jacobs had an episode of rejection during his freshman season at Providence Academy, when his medications did not agree with the hormones of puberty. He missed 3 weeks of the season, which tore him apart inside.

“It stunk not playing,” he said. “It was bad timing.”

No other issues since have cut into Jacobs’ hockey time, which is year-round with skating clinics and play in the Mounds View summer training program.

This week, all Jacobs is thinking about is securing his spot on the Mounds View roster – he hopes on the first line.

“I can put the puck in the net,” he said, when asked what type of player he is.

Jacobs will skate for first-year coach Adam Schmidt at Mounds View this winter.

Schmidt took note of Jacobs’ skill set during summer workouts.

“He’s a nice player. He definitely has some skill. He can skate, no doubt, and he has great hands,” Schmidt said. “Going through what he has, he has some size to him. He’s strong and can shoot the puck. He is going to play a lot.”

The lefthanded centerman scored five goals and had 11 points for the Mustangs during his junior season when he played for Scott Brokaw, whom he followed to Mounds View from Providence Academy.

Mounds View finished with a 13-10-2 overall record during the 2016-17 season.

As a sophomore for the Mustangs, Jacobs scored one goal and one assist. During his freshman season under Brokaw at Providence Academy, he scored four goals and seven points.
Both coach and player are looking for those scoring numbers to increase this winter.

“He’s gotta score goals for us if we are going to be successful, no doubt about it,” said Schmidt, who was the head coach at Irondale for six seasons before taking over at Mounds View. “I don’t want to put pressure on him, but I think he understands his role.

“He is expected to be a significant part of our team, no doubt.”
Indeed, Jacobs does know his role, and he, too, is looking for more scoring from himself as he is hoping to attract some attention.

An increase in Jacobs’ scoring numbers will certainly help Mounds View’s chances in the Suburban East Conference, where state powers Stillwater, Cretin-Derham Hall and White Bear Lake reside.

Jacobs and the Mustangs’ first test is Saturday, Nov. 25, when Mounds View heads north to play Cloquet-Esko-Carlton.

“I’m hoping to play D-1 hockey. I’m hoping to have a good senior year, then play juniors and see what happens. That’s been my dream since I was little,” Jacob said. “I have to have a good year, which I’m pretty sure I can do. I’m confident about that.”

After all Jacobs has gone through, why would anybody doubt his chances?