St. Paul Lakers

The St. Paul Lakers were a Tier III Junior "A" team in St. Paul, Minnesota. They played in the Minnesota Junior Hockey League from 2003 to 2009.

History
Formed by Ralph Hayne in 1993 as the East Metro Lakers, the team called Aldrich Arena in White Bear Lake home until 2000. The team renamed "St. Paul Lakers" and moved to Highland Arena for one season before relocating to Veterans Memorial Community Center in Inver Grove Heights until 2009. In 2009 they moved to a new home and became the Edina Lakers.

Under the guidance of coach Mike LaValle, the Lakers won the USA Hockey Junior B National Tournament in 1999.

Alumni
The Lakers have produced a number of alumni playing in higher levels of junior hockey, NCAA Division I and Division III, and ACHA college programs, and professional hockey.

One notable former player is Joel Rechlicz, who played with the Lakers in 2003–04 at the age of 16. Recruited by former Lakers General Manager Scott Ludwig, Rechlicz was signed by the coaching staff at the team tryout held in the Madison area in the summer of 2003. Rechlicz went on to play professional hockey in the ECHL, AHL and NHL.
 * New York Islanders (2008–10)
 * Washington Capitals (2011–12, 2013–14)
 * Portland Pirates (while signed with the Phoenix Coyotes) (2012–13)
 * Iowa Wild (while signed with the Minnesota Wild) (2014–15)
 * Grand Rapids Griffins (while signed with the Detroit Red Wings) (2015)