It’s easy to spot the area of concern that will face the 2007-2008 University of Maine hockey team in its quest for a 10th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

Will Maine be able to score enough goals to make it?

The Bears will graduate six players from its 23-15-2 Frozen Four team and five were among their top 10 scorers this season.

The six seniors scored 54.1 percent of the goals (72 of 133) this season and had 44.1 percent of the assists (100 of 227). They also had 60.3 percent of the goals on the nation’s best power play (25.4 percent).

Seniors Josh Soares (20 goals, 25 assists), Michel Leveille (19 & 26), Keith Johnson (10 & 14), Mike Hamilton (9 & 13), Mike Lundin (6 & 14) and Brent Shepheard (8 & 8) played in all situations and will be hard to replace.

They were just the second class in school history to make three Frozen Four appearances.

Lundin is the only defenseman who will depart and Ben Bishop should return in goal for his junior year so Maine should be stingy again. Bishop wound up with a 21-9-2 record, a 2.14 goals-against average that was tied for eighth-best in the country, and a .923 save percentage, which was ninth best.

David Wilson (2-6, 3.00, .899) is a useful backup.

Maine finished tied for 13th in team defense (2.48 GAA) and 16th in penalty killing (85.8 percent). The Bears will have to break in some new penalty killers so they could struggle early.

Lundin’s loss will be significant.

He was their best all-around defenseman and logged tons of minutes.

His heir apparent will be Travis Ramsey (0 & 8) who has improved dramatically every year and was the second most reliable defensive defenseman behind Lundin. Ramsey, who will be a senior, saw a lot of ice time and may get even more next year.

Bret Tyler (6 & 20), who will also be a senior, has terrific offensive instincts but needs to improve his quickness and strength to aid the defensive aspect of his game. If he does, he could have a banner senior year. He is exceptional on the power play and will get tons of power-play time next year because all six seniors saw duty with the man advantage.

Matt Duffy (5 & 5) can really shoot the puck and may be their best-skating defenseman. He will take on a more prominent role but has to reduce his turnovers and make smarter decisions.

Simon Danis-Pepin (2 & 4) and Bryan Plaszcz (1 & 0), who will be juniors, showed minor improvement but not as much as the coaching staff had hoped.

That required the staff to move center Keenan Hopson back to defense.

They need productive off-seasons. They have to make significant strides and are capable of doing so.

The jury is still out on freshman Brett Carriere.

Maine has two incoming defenseman in point producer Josh Van Dyk (18 & 40 in 47 games for Hamilton in the Ontario Provincial Hockey League) and defensive-minded Mike Banwell (7 & 19 in 48 games for Pickering of the OPJHL).

Both will receive every opportunity to crack the lineup. Van Dyk had 32 power-play points.

Up front, the Bears could be hurt even more if Hockey East Rookie of the Year Teddy Purcell (16 & 27), who is 21, decides to turn pro and sign a free-agent contract.

The likelihood is that he will sign but he could use one more year in college. He very well could be one of the nation’s best forwards if he gets a little stronger, quicker and grittier.

If he does return, he will be reunited with Newfoundland buddy Andrew Sweetland, who is one of Maine’s top recruits.

The dynamic Sweetland led the Maritimes Junior A Hockey League in scoring with a club-record 56 goals to go with 61 assists in 54 games for Amherst.

Left wing Billy Ryan (13 & 20) finished with 6 & 5 in his last 11 games and should be one of the league’s elite forwards next year if he plays with more of an edge and shoots more.

Hopson (7 & 15) probably will return to center and Maine needs him to elevate his work ethic and be more physical. If he does, he could have a breakthrough season.

Right wing Rob Bellamy (1& 7) scored his first goal of the year in the East Regional and that should enable him to relax next season and produce more offensively. He has to continue to throw bone-rattling checks.

David de Kastrozza (0 & 3) was a pleasant surprise in the NCAA Tournament and the freshman could evolve into a useful third-line center with his work ethic and physicality.

The fourth line of Wes Clark (8 & 5) between LW Chris Hahn (0 & 6) and Vince Laise (1 & 3) had some good games.

Clark could be moved up the depth chart and may see some power-play time next year.

Laise is a hustler who needs to get stronger and Hahn, who went pointless in his last 17 games, needs to be more productive.

Tony Morrone (0 & 1) has an upside with his speed and Jeff Marshall (0 & 0) can play forward or defense.

There are four other incoming forwards along with Sweetland and it is entirely possible all five will be in the lineup for the opener at Denver on Oct. 12:

. Tanner House (14 & 55 in 58 games for Penticton in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League) is a solid two-way center;

. versatile Keif Orsini (44 games, 24 & 44 for St. Jerome in the Quebec AAA Junior Hockey League) will provide both skill and a toughness the Bears could really use;

. Glen Belmore (16 & 27 in 44 games for Wellington in the OPJHL), is a multi-purpose forward and

. Robby Dee (34 games, 11 & 14 for Omaha in the U.S. Hockey League) is a sniper who was the leading goal scorer in Minnesota high school hockey (49 goals) in 2004-2005.

Next year’s team, with its infusion of youth, will play with a lot of energy and probably be grittier than this year’s team. It will be a hard-working team.

It will be a team that should be markedly better in the second half. If the Bears can hold their own in the first half, they might be able to make a run for another NCAA berth in the second half.

UMAINE, 2006-07 RECORDS

Overall: 23-15-2; conference: 14-12.1; home: 10-5-0; away: 8-9-1; neutral: 5-1-1

SHOTS

Goals-shot attempts: Maine 133-1,282 (10.4 percent); opponent 99-1,136 (8.7); goals/game: Maine 3.3; opponent 2.5

POWER PLAYS

Goals-power plays: Maine 59-232 (25.4 percent); opponent 28-196 (14.3)

GOAL BREAKDOWN

Total goals: Maine 133; opponent 99; power play: Maine 58; opponent: 28; short-handed: Maine 6; opponent: 5

PENALTIES

Per game: Maine 7.4; opponent 8.0; minutes per game: Maine 17.7; opponent: 17.9

SAVES BY PERIOD

Maine

1st: 313; 2nd: 367; 3rd: 352; OT: 5; total: 1,037

Opponent

1st: 375; 2nd: 414; 3rd: 351; OT: 9; total: 1,149