BURNSVILLE &045; There’s been a lot of talk about the success this summer by members of next season’s Albert Lea High School boys’ basketball team.

But the hard court isn’t the only place there’s optimism. The boys on the ice more than held their own in a recent 16-team tournament at Burnsville, according to ALHS boys’ hockey coach Roy Nystrom.

&uot;The kids played real good,&uot; said Nystrom. &uot;I think we’re going to have a pretty good team this year.&uot;

The Albert Lea contingent just missed making the championship round at Burnsville, finishing 1-1-1 in pool play.

In the opener the locals won 4-3 over St. Louis Park, which is expected to have one of the top Class A teams in the state.

In round two, Albert Lea fell 3-2 to highly regarded Buffalo despite outshooting the opponents roughly 50-10.

Next was White Bear Lake, which had defeated St. Louis Park and Buffalo, and Albert Lea led 5-3 with about 3 minutes left in regulation. Two penalties, giving White Bear Lake a two-man advantage, resulted in a 5-5 tie with a goal in the final 20 seconds.

Albert Lea skated three lines, with Jon Breuer centering Casey Schumaker and Tyler Hegwood, Cory Ellertson centering Tony Dugstad and Beau Larson, and Ben Meillier centering Lucas Flugum and Peter Bracker. The defensemen were Dustin Trail, Travis McKinney, Brett Frydenlund, Casey Bowman and Alex Lair, and the goalies were Evan Long and Clay Casanova.