 Yake then returned to the Wheat Kings for one more season, scoring 140 points in 72 games.The 1988–89 season saw Yake make his professional debut, appearing in 75 games with the Binghamton Whalers of the American Hockey League while also making his NHL debut with the Hartford Whalers, appearing in two games.The next three seasons saw Yake do much of the same; he played the majority of his time in the minors while playing sparingly with Whalers, most notably with the Springfield Indians, for whom Yake scored 77 points in 60 games in 1991 to help lead the Indians to their seventh and final Calder Cup championship.