NOTEBOOK

* When the season starts today, three teams will be lacing their skates for the first time -- Fountain Valley, Valor Christian and Heritage.

Since 2006, nine schools have added ice hockey as a sport. Six schools began play for the previous expansion.

Standley Lake coach Scott Reynolds, whose Gators were part of the class of 2006, is excited about the sport's growth.

"It's great. We are adding three teams this year and talk of more next year," Reynolds said. "This could someday replace the midgets level in the state. I coach at both levels, and high school hockey is doing very well."

* When it comes to season openers, the four mountain-area teams do it a little different than everyone else.

Steamboat Springs, Summit, Aspen and Battle Mountain start the new season by getting together to play the only in-season tournament -- the Mountain Hockey Tournament.

None of the coaches involved knows when the event started -- the best guess is six or seven years ago -- but this version starts Friday night.

Each team plays one game Friday, and on Saturday, each team completes round-robin play.

* It's pretty common to see an athlete playing a sport in different seasons, but it's rare to see one playing two sports in the same season for different schools.

But that's what junior Garrett Eastep is doing for a second straight year. He plays hockey for Coronado and wrestles for Manitou Springs, which he attends. Eastep can play for Coronado because his school doesn't offer the sport.

Last season, Eastep was the second-leading scorer for the Cougars, tallying eight goals while adding five assists. He finished fifth in the 103- pound weight class at the Class 3A state wrestling meet.

* Air Academy coach Dave Meisin- ger said last season was one of the weirdest he ever has experienced.

The Kadets finished 11-8 in the regular season, but Meisinger noted that in every win, his team scored two goals or more. In all but one loss, his team scored fewer than two goals. The only exception came in the first round of the playoffs, when the Kadets lost 3-2.

"I just told my team that if we could score two goals, we were going to be in the game until the end," Mei- singer said.

* Every year, coaches try to figure out how to replace the scoring that was lost either to graduation or by players moving.

Lewis-Palmer coach Steve Fillo has his work cut out for him.

The Rangers, state semifinalists last season, scored 102 goals last season, but Fillo must find a way to replace 63 goals, or about 62 percent of his offense. Although the offense might take some time, Fillo believes he might have his best defensive team ever.

"The quality of and depth at defense is really good," Fillo said. "My biggest strength this year will be my defense, as I'll have four solid defenders on my top two lines."

* Since the 2006 season, no team has been better at home than Aspen. In those 16 homes games, the Skiers have an impressive 14-2 record.

The only two losses came last season, but Aspen will bring an eight-game home winning streak into this season.