Continued: Boys' hockey: Rebuilding time in Lake Conference

The 2007-08 boys' hockey season was a strong one for the Lake Conference, with Burnsville, Lakeville South and Rosemount all earning their share of the spotlight. But following that success came heavy losses because of graduation, which means all three programs face the difficult task of rebuilding on the fly.

Lakeville South has to replace 10 seniors, with the biggest hole to be filled in goal. Hakan Yumusaklar's standout play was the backbone of what turned out to be a successful season after a mediocre start.

The Cougars were a surprise participant in the state tournament after having an 11-11-3 record during the regular season. Yumusaklar recorded three consecutive shutouts in the Section 1 playoffs before the Cougars fell to eventual state champion Hill-Murray in the state quarterfinals.

"Hakan was a three-year starter for us,'' Lakeville South coach Kurt Weber said. "We don't have another goaltender on the roster who has ever played in a varsity game. We might have to win some games 9-8.''

The good news for the Cougars is they have forward Bill Simon back for his senior season. He is expected to put up some good offensive numbers this season, just as he did as a junior.

"He's coming off a very good offseason,'' Weber said. "He scored regularly in the elite league this summer. He was our leading goal-scorer last year with 18, and I think he'll have another big year.''

Burnsville coach Janne Kivihalme will look to the Blaze's junior varsity and bantam teams for players who can fill the void left by the graduation of 13 seniors. He will look to returning forwards Zack King and Zach May, among others, to provide a young team with leadership.

"The skill is there,'' Kivihalme said of the incoming players. "But we'll have to see how they handle the pressure of playing in a varsity game. And we'll have to look at their decision making.''

Kivihalme said the Blaze should have decent goaltending, based on the play of a pair of seniors who played junior varsity last season, as well as a couple of others in the youth program. He is concerned, however, about the lack of experience on defense.

"We're hoping some of the younger guys will have an impact for us,'' Kivihalme said. "I'm going to have to see a little more of them before I know what we are going to have.''

Rosemount enjoyed an 18-victory regular season, led by a talented senior class.

"We lost a lot of our high-end players; that's no secret,'' coach Scott Macho said. "They accounted for a lot of our points and received a lot of playing time. Now we're going to have to rely on a lot of upperclassmen who didn't see as much ice time last year and some players from the JV level to show improvement.''

Senior Andrew Anderson is a forward Macho said he believes can take a step forward this season. Seniors Jake Leslie and Andrew Comstock and sophomore Brady Loew also will be counted on to provide offense.

The Irish will have a new starter in goal and will have close to an all-new defense.

Eden Prairie and Bloomington Jefferson are the preseason favorites in the Lake. How the rest of the conference shapes up could depend on which team is able to gel the quickest.

As Weber put it, "Jefferson and Eden Prairie have some younger guys, too, so the hope is to sneak up on some teams early an get some wins against teams that might have more talent than you.''

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