No. 18 Air Force (4-1-1) at Canisius (1-1-1)
Friday at Saturday, 5:35 MDT
TV/radio: atlantichockey.tv (subscription) / AM 1300 or goairforcefalcons.com
Series: Air Force leads 17-12-9, including 8-4-4 at Buffalo. The teams will play again at Cadet Arena in February on the second-to-last-weekend of the regular season
Overall
Last weekend was a mixed bag for both teams. The Falcons defeated a tough Bemidji State on the road on Saturday, 5-1, one night after the Beavers dominated them, 4-1. Canisius tied ECAC hockey member Colgate, 3-3. Air Force, which has been ranked all season, is sitting No. 2 in the Division I RPI at the moment. This will be the third series in their first four in which the Falcons are on the road, and it’s their Atlantic Hockey Conference opener. AFA, RIT and Sacred Heart are the only teams in the league yet to play a conference game heading into this weekend. Canisius opened the season with a home split against Robert Morris.
Air Force update
The Falcons are just about back at full strength, and no one exemplified that more than junior wing Matt Serratore, who had a goal in each game at Bemidji and also set up a goal for Jordan Himley, who had three points over the weekend as well. Those two, as well as center Kyle Haak, are capable of putting up a lot of points in short order. Another line that enjoyed a good game Saturday was the trio of seniors Erik Baskin and Tyler Ledford with junior Evan Giesler. With 13 points, that group is the Falcons’ top-scoring line so far. … Defenseman Matt Koch shares the team goal lead with Baskin after he got his third on Saturday. Koch leads the Falcons with six points and is second among AHC defensemen in scoring and tied for ninth nationally among blue liners. … Fellow blue liner Phil Boje, who had two assists Saturday, leads the nation with 19 blocked shots. … Goalie Billy Christopoulos has been busy – his 184 saves are eighth in the nation. He has made 29 or more saves three times already. He has a 2.15 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage. He’s played every game thus far for the Falcons. … Nineteen Falcons have scored already this season, and 14 have multiple points.
Canisius update
Much like the Falcons, the Golden Griffins return a veteran team that lost an elite goalie in Charles Williams. Senior captain Ryan Schmelzer (four points) brings size and skill, and junior Dylan McLaughlin (six points) is also among the top forwards in AHC. Sophomore forward Nick Hutchison has three goals among his four points. Canisius has good speed and skill, and it will present a tough test for the Falcons’ defense. … Sophomore Daniel Urbani started two of the Golden Griffins’ three games thus far and they got points in both. He has a 1.93 gaa and a .938 save percentage. Junior Simon Hoffey (0-1, 4.17, .846) started the other. … After RPI hired coach Dave Smith, Canisius promoted assistant Trevor Large, who also served as an assistant at Army West Point previously.
Statistical anomalies
It will be interesting to see if this holds up: Air Force is being outshot by opponents (29.5 to 28.7). That is surprising given they have six veteran defensemen back as well as a host of veteran forwards, and it has made Christopoulos’ performance all the more impressive. … The Falcons are the only NCAA team to have played in four different time zones in the first four weeks, moving from West to East (Alaska, Mountain, Central and now Eastern). They have logged 11,522 air miles already. Good thing these guys enjoy flying.
How it could go down
These are easily two of the best four or five teams in what looks to be a vastly improved AHC. These two teams finished first and second in the AHC regular season standings in 2016-17, and it’s likely they’ll be in the mix for the top spot. Last season the Falcons took three of four points at Canisius, and if they can replicate that it would have to be considered a positive.
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