West Metro girls' hockey story lines

The first girls' hockey games of the season are in the books for some teams, or will be by the weekend. A bevy of west metro teams enter the season riding high after promising seasons a year ago, with some squads left wondering because of graduation losses. Here are some of the story lines for this season:

Eden Prairie is back

The Eagles lost in overtime to Wayzata in last year's section semifinals, ending a 58-game winning streak. But that's about all. The three-time defending Lake Conference champions are ranked No. 1 in Class 2A by Let's Play Hockey magazine. The Eagles return a top forward in Melissa Feste (53 points last season), a top defender in Kelly Seeler (20 points) and Maddie Burke in net (32-1 career record, .954 career saves percentage).

Traveling band

Speaking of Eden Prairie, fans will have to save up gas money to see the Eagles play the first part of the season. Because of construction on the new sheet of ice at Eden Prairie Community Center, the Eagles will not play a true home game until the new year. Eden Prairie does have two "home" games in December, to be played at a rink in Edina. The Eagles' only regular-season away game in winter 2008 is Jan. 28 at Jefferson.

Blake's back

Opposing coaches love to say "they don't rebuild, they reload" when referring to dominant teams. Go ahead and figure many Class 1A coaches are at least thinking it about Blake. Though the defending champion will be without Ms. Hockey Katharine Chute, sister Margaret Chute and Sally Komarek each return after 54-point seasons for the Bears last winter. Blake also returns Abbie Lund and Alyssa Veil, each with 16-point seasons as freshmen. The Bears are top-ranked in Class 1A.

Wayzata gets tough

While we're at it, "You have to play the best to be the best" is another overused phrase. But you have to hand it to Wayzata. The Trojans, ranked seventh in Class 2A, scheduled some top talent for the first couple of weeks of the season. The Trojans opened with defending Class 2A champ Stillwater this week, and they play defending 1A champion Blake on Thursday, at Class 2A No. 4 Benilde-St. Margaret's on Nov. 27 and against No. 3 Edina on Dec. 1.

Co-op coming up

It looks like the North Wright County co-op is coming around in its third year as a team. The River Hawks, a team made up of players from Annandale, St. Michael-Albertville, Monticello and Heritage Christian Academy, have three juniors coming back this season after all-conference campaigns a year ago. The three combined for 46 points and join a pair of seniors as this year's leaders. North Wright County finished second in the Mississippi 8 Conference last winter (11-3) but had an early exit from the Section 8 playoffs.

Catch up with coaches

Coaching carousel: Former Mound Westonka athletic director Bob Kuehl is now the girls' hockey coach for the White Hawks. That job became available when Chris Erickson took over at Chaska. At Orono, former Gophers standout defender Ashley Albrecht (sixth all-time in career points by a defender with 53) is the new coach.

Brian Stensaas • bstensaas@startribune.com