When: Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. MDT at Cadet Arena
Watch: atlantichockey.tv (subscription based)
Listen: Friday, 740 AM; Saturday, 1300 AM. Audio of both games is available at GoAirForceFalcons.com
Air Force (2-1-1) opens its home schedule with a two-game Atlantic Hockey Conference showdown against Bentley (1-1-1). After promising first weekends, but teams are coming off rougher showings this past weekend. With that in mind, here are some things to watch for in the series.
Pump up the volume
Expect Air Force to come out with all cylinders firing after, shall we say, a less-than-inspiring start a weekend ago at Arizona State. Don’t take our word for it, however. Here’s coach Frank Serratore: “Since the ’14-15 season this is the first time, it never happened last season, I’ve been disappointed in the effort level of our team. This group has never disappointed me, but last weekend was a disappointment. I thought we were fortunate to get out of there with a split. Arizona State was ready. They were determined and they outworked us. (Shane) Starrett stopped two short-handed breakaways in the first game or that game wouldn’t have gone our way. In the second game we had two power plays in the first five minutes and failed to convert. Give Arizona State credit. … They deserved to win that game and possibly to win both games. … We had a great practice Tuesday and we talked to the boys about it. Maybe it was a little bit of a hangover from the Ice Breaker.” The Falcons typically fare well in home openers, going 11-6-2 under Serratore.
Active blue lines
Bentley is led in goals by sophomore defenseman Alexey Solovyev (three), and freshman Connor Brassard also has tallied. Bentley barely averages 20 shots a game, but the back end supplies more than its share of them. Meanwhile, Air Force also boasts scoring ability on the blue line, starting with junior Phil Boje, who has a team-high five points (two goals) and is tied for fourth in NCAA D-I hockey in points by a defenseman. Sophomore Dan Bailey’s willingness and ability to put the puck on net also has been noticeable thus far, and senior co-captain Johnny Hrabovsky is skilled in all three zones. There is a chance junior co-captain Dylan Abood (upper-body injury) could return for this series.
Notable
Overshadowed by the ASU split, Serratore picked up his 300th career victory at Air Force against a Division I opponent. He is the program’s all-time-winningest coach. In 24 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has an overall record of 380-403-81 (864 games). … Starrett is sixth in the nation in saves (110) after just three games and is 10th in the nation in save percentage (.940). … Junior center Tyler Ledford has four points in his past three games and leads the team with 34 faceoff wins. Air Force’s 52.2 percent success rate in the circle is 17th in D-I hockey. … Forward Matt Pulver’s return also is possible.
The last word
Serratore on what to expect this weekend: “What we’re looking for, conference or not, is for our team to play Falcon hockey, and that means hustle, determination and relentless play. We didn’t have that last weekend. That’s our foundation, without that you can’t put Xs and Os on the whiteboard that are going to overcome a lack of effort. If you’re outworking or outhustling the opponent you can overcome mistakes because you’ll run them down.”
@AFAFlightPath will tweet in-game during both games. Look for game analysis after both contests.
