Official Practices Get Underway This Week   Heading into last season, the Yellowjackets were projected by the league's coaches to finish in fifth place - putting them in the lower half of the league and their lowest finish since placing sixth in 1989-90. "That was humbling I think, for us as coaches and I think for the players as well," said Yellowjacket Head Coach Dan Stauber.  "We'd had a couple of down years and people looked at that, thought the program was trending that way and figured we'd continue to fall. "I know it's cliché, but the guys used it as motivation and it paid off in the end last season." The result was just a single loss in conference play and the NCHA regular season championship, the third in school history.  But the playoffs didn't quite go as planned, and the team limped to a disappointing finish, dropping their final two games.  They hadn't lost at home all season until those final two games.  With the end of the season, came the departure of a large senior class, a hit that is sure to be felt in 2009-10. "You can't lose a class that large and not feel it," Stauber said.  "That group played together for four years, they went through an awful lot.  They won a league title, they won a playoff title, they played in two national tournaments.  They were a group of good hockey players and even better people.  We'll miss them in a lot of ways." This week marks the first official practice of the 2009-10 season (October 15), and with that comes the arrival of many big questions facing the defending NCHA champs, the biggest of which comes between the pipes.  A year ago, Chad Beiswenger had a dream season, being named 1st Team All-American and NCHA Player of the Year.  He was the only goaltender to play for the 'Jackets last season, meaning there is a lot of inexperience vying for playing time in goal. "Chad carried the mail for us for three years.  It wasn't the perfect situation to have him play the entire year last year, but once he got rolling it was tough to keep him out of the lineup," Stauber said.  "With Chad gone it opens the door for one or more than one goaltender to step in and get some playing time.  The first two weeks of practice will give these guys a chance to step away from the crowd and prove that they want to play." Crowd is the right word.  To date, there are six goaltenders vying for three roster spots - two returners, three transfers and a recruit.  The returning veterans are Mike Rosett and Peter O'Hara.  Rosett appeared in five games two seasons ago, and of the six is the only one who has played a regular season game in a Yellowjacket uniform.  O'Hara played one period of an exhibition game against Team USA two seasons ago.  The transfers include Bryan Scott from Adrian who would be a junior.  Scott, of Pickering, Ontario, played in two games for the Bulldogs last season and came to UWS at the semester break.  Also coming in is Jim Patterson, who played last season at Division I Robert Morris.  Patterson, from Kamloops, British Columbia, played seven games a year ago.  The final transfer is Superior native Bryan Dalbec, who played 21 games as a freshman last season at Minnesota-Crookston.  He left after the school dropped its hockey program.  The other goaltender in camp is freshman Garrett Tinkham from Paradise, Texas.  Tinkham spent last season in the EJHL with the New England Huskies. "We were very honest and straightforward with all of them prior to the start of the season.  We told them that we were going to have a full-blown competition and regardless, we were going to keep the three best goaltenders.  Period," Stauber said.  "It should make for some very competitive play in camp that hopefully carries into the season.  The competition should be a great thing for all of them and for our team as a whole." Other questions facing the team is what will things look like up front after the departure of eight forwards?  Who will step up on defense with half of last season's corps now gone?  Which holdovers will have to step up their games to get more playing time?  Who are the recruits?  All of these and more will be looked at leading up to the season opener on October 30. Up next: A look at the Yellowjacket defense.