If you have followed Air Force hockey the past couple of years then you know crunch time is “Reim Time.”

Junior assistant captain Willie Reim has made a habit of scoring clutch goals for the Falcons. He scored his third overtime winner in a five-game, two-season stretch when he struck in AFA’s season opener at Michigan State. That was his fifth game-winner in 47 games.

The affable winger recently returned from injury, and his presence provided a boost for the Falcons in their series split against Bentley last weekend. He won the Chuck Delich Award, given to the team’s most valuable player last season.

Willie was kind enough to fire one-timers off some sweet feeds from The Flight Path.

What were some of the influences that led to you to Air Force?

I don’t have any military members in my family, so I didn’t have any thoughts of joining the military growing up. Then I went to St. Thomas Academy, which was kind of a military-ish high school. There were a few guys on my high school team, one of them was A.J. Reid. So when I got in he was graduating from the Air Force Academy and had a successful career here. So he kind of pointed me in the direction a little bit. Come my junior or senior year Air Force started reaching out and I got to speak with them. There was a commit at the time who didn’t end up coming here, he had some injuries, but he was a really close family friend. I heard all the good things about it even if the hockey doesn’t work out. We can’t play forever so it’s good to have a backup plan.

I know Academy life can be a grind, but what are your favorite parts of it?

One undercover one is you don’t really have to think when you get up in the morning. You’re going to wear the same thing every day, the same uniform every day. You can get ready pretty fast. It’s kind of fun doing the grind with your buddies on the team. You’re all together, you’re all doing the same things, so it brings out some good moments you can laugh about throughout the day.

What was your summer job, and what are some ideas you have about what you might want to do upon graduation?

The overarching goal is you want to play hockey as long as you can, but that’s not always the reality. This past summer I was lucky enough to get an internship with the Cadet Summer Research Program through the econ department with the Space Force. So I was in Colorado Springs helping them put up a new development within the Space Force. That was pretty cool. That is at the top of my list right now, either Space Force or Space acquisitions. I guess we’ll see where it takes me.

Anyone reading this should know by now that I consider breakfast the most important meal of the day, so I must ask you what is the Breakfast of Champions?

I think it’s whatever Mitchell Hall is serving that morning. There isn’t anything in particular every day, but I always get the oatmeal. That’s my go-to, oatmeal, a cup of coffee and whatever they’re serving.

We’re close enough to Halloween still that there probably is some candy lingering (and if not, please visit our house and take some off our hands!). Do you have a favorite?

I definitely have a little sweet tooth, so anything with pure chocolate, a Hershey’s bar. You’d always want to find the house that was handing out the full-size Hershey’s bar.

Does the team have a comedian or comedians we should know about?

We have a few of them. One of the undercover ones, his humor can go unnoticed at times, is Bennett Norlin. He makes some pretty sarcastic remarks and jokes. He’s pretty funny.

Growing up did you have a favorite hockey player or players?

The Minnesota Wild was my team growing up. I went to those games all the time. My favorite player is Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars. He came and played the Wild and stood out. He’s always been my favorite player. I have his jersey hung up in my room, and I love the way he plays.

When you have some down time what do you like to do?

We’re pretty lucky here in Colorado Springs because it’s always so nice outside. If I can go on a hike or spend some time outside, those are the main two things because you spend so much time inside here, either at the rink or studying. So any time you can get outside you savor that. On top of that is golf.

Do you have any favorite road trips the team has taken?

My freshman year the last trip before everything got shut down (in 2020), we went to Niagara. We got there a few days early and drove to Toronto. I’d never been. We got to sight see and go to some really cool parts of Toronto.

Did you hit the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Yes. We saw the Cup and walked around.

If you talked to a younger hockey player, what sort of tips would you offer them?

Just embrace it. You can’t really control the outcome on a lot of things – how games go, how individual stats go. But as long as you’re working hard and doing your best it always works out in the end.

©First Line Editorial 2021