Robert Lakso is an American retired ice hockey

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

who was an All-American for Minnesota Duluth.

Career

Lakso was a star player for Aurora-Hoyt Lakes, playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, cross country and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

in addition to hockey. The

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

had changed its draft rules that year, making Lakso eligible for the

1980 NHL Entry Draft The 1980 NHL Entry Draft was the 18th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Montreal Forum. This was the first time that an NHL arena hosted the draft.The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p.241, Published in Canada by Doubleda ...

, and he was selected in the 9th round by his home state

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

. The following fall, Lasko began attending the

University of Minnesota Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a two-year progr ...

and he began his collegiate career slowly. A broken leg delayed the start to his sophomore season but, once he got back on the ice, Lakso began playing much better. The program changed coaches in 1982, and

Mike Sertich Mike Sertich (born 1947) is an American ice hockey coach. He was the head coach of Minnesota-Duluth from 1983 through to 2000. He continued coaching for several years after resigning before retiring. Career Mike Sertich began his career at Minn ...

's arrival changed the trajectory of the program. In his junior season Lakso was nearly a point-per-game player for a team that set a new program record with 28 wins. Unfortunately, many of those victories didn't come in conference play and UMD finished 4th in the

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

. Despite the low finish, the team did receive its first bid to the NCAA Tournament where they were knocked out in the quarterfinals. Undeterred, Lasko was named

alternate captain In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...

for his senior season and he produced his best season to date. His point production improved and he helped Minnesota–Duluth win their first WCHA title in 19 years of league play. The Bulldogs clinched the crown in a 4–2 thanks to a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

from Lakso. UMD then won their first ever conference championship and received the second western seed in the 1984 NCAA Tournament. UMD was able to eek out a victory over Clarkson in the quarterfinals to make their first Frozen Four. They faced a

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

squad looking for revenge but the two team's defenses held and overtime was required. It didn't take long for Lakso to find Bill Watson with a pass and the later ended the game early in the first extra session. UMD headed to their first championship game against

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...

and Lakso was ready with a tremendous performance. He assisted on the first two Minnesota–Duluth goals and scored the third to give the Bulldogs a 3–1 lead early in the third period. Unfortunately, a late comeback resulted in the two teams ending regulation with a 4–4 tie. The two ended up playing the longest championship game in NCAA history, requiring 4 overtimes, but it was Bowling Green who ended up scoring the winner. Lakso was named to the All-Tournament team, to go along with his All-American honors. After graduating, Lakso began his professional career with the

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in existen ...

but quickly found himself demoted to the IHL. He found a great deal of success playing AA hockey but, despite his scoring exploits, played just 25 games at the AHL level. Despite finishing 3rd on his team in 1987, Minnesota didn't renew Lakso's contract and he went on to play for three IHL teams over the next three years. he found his greatest success with the

Fort Wayne Komets The Fort Wayne Komets are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL. They play their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This team was previously a member of the Central Hockey League, the original Inte ...

, scoring 100 points in his first year with the club. That offseason, the team moved to Albany but Lakso stayed in Fort Wayne when a different franchise was moved in to replace the departed Komets, taking over the same name. Lakso was traded to the new Komets for the promise that Fort Wayne would pay its own travel costs whenever it travelled to Albany. As the Albany team folded part-way through the next season, the trade turned out to be a steal for Fort Wayne. Injuries hampered the rest of Lakso's career, but he was able to reach the

Turner Cup The Turner Cup was the championship trophy of the International Hockey League from 1945 to 2001 and the renamed United Hockey League from 2007 to 2010. The Cup was named for Joe Turner, a goaltender from Windsor, Ontario. Turner became professi ...

Final in 1991 and then win the championship in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. Lakso retired after the title, ending his playing career on a high note.

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lakso, Bob 1962 births Living people Ice hockey players from Minnesota People from Aurora, Minnesota Ice hockey people from St. Louis County, Minnesota American men's ice hockey left wingers Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Springfield Indians players Indianapolis Checkers players Milwaukee Admirals players Indianapolis Ice players Fort Wayne Komets players