When the chips are down, who will Air Force’s hockey team turn to during the 2019-20 season?

The Falcons typically groom players to take starring roles when they’re upperclassmen, and this season’s roster would seem to be no exception.

2019-20 season preview

Part I: AFA’s roster by the numbers

Part II: AFA’s indispensable players

Conversations with players and coaches leading up to the season, which begins with Sunday’s exhibition game at Cadet Arena and begins in earnest next Friday at Notre Dame, led to the following conclusions. These appear to be the Falcons’ most indispensable players:

Defenseman Zach Mirageas

For the first time in four years, the Falcons don’t have a senior defenseman, but what the do have are three top-quality Division I defensemen in juniors Jake Levin, Alex Mehnert and Mirageas.

The beauty of Mirageas’ game is he can play it any way you want. Need someone to carry the puck up the ice? He can do that. Need a strong shot from the point? No problem. Batten down the hatches in the D zone? Sure. You say you want to mix it up a bit? Well, the Massachusetts native relishes contact and can hit with the force of a missile.

“Zach Mirageas is the leader in the defensive group, and I think he has to take the reins and set the example of how we’re going to play there,” captain Matt Pulver said. “He’s capable of doing it, and he has the right mentality coming in this year. He’s the kind of guy we need to rely on for big minutes every night.”

Mirageas has been a fixture in the Falcons’ lineup his first two seasons, playing 76 of a possible 79 games – only three seniors have played more career games. Mirageas has 17 points in each season, but his role expanded last year when he was paired with senior Matt Koch. The duo had far more D zone starts than in 2017-18, and that was due in large part to the growth in Mirageas’ game. If he takes another leap this season …

“Zach Mirageas has the potential to be our best player and an all-league player,” coach Frank Serratore said at the Atlantic Hockey Conference media day.

Forwards Trevor Stone and Brady Tomlak

It’s fitting to lump the senior duo together because this will be their sixth consecutive season playing together, two with the Springfield Jr. Blues of the NAHL and four at the Academy. Falcons fans can only hope their final season together in college is as prolific as their final one in junior when they were Springfield’s top two scorers.

“Those guys are really key to our offensive game,” Pulver said. “Brady is really good in the defensive zone and Trev can handle the puck pretty well. We’re going to be relying on those guys.”

In addition to his defensive prowess, Tomlak has been the Falcons’ best or second-best face-off man every season he’s been at the Academy. He’s also been remarkably consistent on offense, netting 18, 17 and 18 points in his three seasons. Last season he had a career-best eight goals. Still, at 6-foot-2 and owner of a large frame, there is a sense there could be even more. With increased ice time and responsibility, he has the potential to be a 30-point player.

Stone cut weight before last season and gained explosiveness. In addition to his stickhandling skill, he also possesses a rocket of a shot from the circles down, one that helped him to a career-high nine goals last season. Like Tomlak, he’s been a consistent producer (12, 13 and 11 points), but the Falcons have a need for more. His combination of skill and will could place him in the 15-goal-or-more category.

These should be two of drivers of the Falcons’ offense.

Goaltender TBD

There is the temptation to write, “The sky is falling” because of how much Air Force relies on its goaltenders. But we’re not prepared to go into the chicken coop yet because a good one always emerges. The question this season is how long will it take for that to happen for the Falcons, who have to replace two-time MVP Billy Christopoulos.

Junior Zach LaRocque, probably the frontrunner given he’s the only goalie on the roster who has played in NCAA games, said it’s been a tight competition throughout the preseason, but one with no casualties.

“We’re really close. We like to call ourselves Goalie Nation,” he said. “There are spots open and we’re grinding. It’s going to come down to who’s playing the best.”

His main competition is expected to come from sophomore Alex Schilling.

“I’m really happy with Rocky and Schilling,” Pulver said. “Rocky has stepped up into more of a leadership role back there, which has been awesome. I don’t feel any animosity between them, but they’re all so competitive.

“All of them know we rely heavily on our goalies, so we’re going to need them to step up.”

LaRocque got his first four starts of his career last season when Christopoulos was recovering from emergency surgery. Schilling and junior Erik Anderson have yet to play in college, and the trio welcomes freshman Austin Park into Goalie Nation this year.

However long it takes to settle one, Serratore’s history indicates that once he finds one, he’ll start him game after game.

“We’ve got a lot to prove,” the coach told me this summer. “Who’s going to be our next star goaltender? Who’s going to be our next fan favorite?”

We shall soon find out.

©First Line Editorial 2019