Air Force released its 2022-23 hockey schedule recently, and the slate will provide Falcons fans an opportunity to get some rare looks at programs that don’t visit the Academy very often.
The Falcons also will serve as a sort of college hockey welcoming committee.
The schedule starts with co-hosting the Ice Breaker tournament with Denver. Air Force will play host to Maine on Oct. 7. The next night it welcomes Notre Dame to town for what will be the Irish’s first visit to Colorado Springs in three decades. A scheduled series between the two programs was supposed to take place in October of 2020, but the pandemic wiped that out.
The following weekend, the Falcons will travel to Missouri to help welcome Lindenwood, which it played in an exhibition series last season, to Division I hockey.
And in early November, Air Force will play host to Alaska Anchorage, which is rejoining D-I after a hiatus.
The Falcons kick off the new year playing Boston University for the first time since 1999 at the Desert Classic in Tempe, Ariz. They will meet either Arizona State or Michigan Tech, another program it’s never played, the next night.
Air Force also will play an exhibition and then a two-game series against Colorado College in October, and it will host seven Atlantic Hockey series and travel for six.
The complete schedule can be found here.
What to like
There is a lot of variety. The extra non-conference games offer a bit of everything. Alaska hasn’t been to Cadet Arena since 2013. Notre Dame hasn’t been since 1992. Maine never has visited the Springs.
The Atlantic Hockey home schedule includes the two teams the Falcons faced in the conference final four – RIT and AIC.
Who’s missing?
For the life of me I can’t understand why Air Force and Army West Point don’t play home-and-home series. Once again, the Falcons will travel to West Point, but the Black Knights will not come to Cadet Arena. Atlantic Hockey, this just should not happen! This is the league’s premier rivalry, although I would contend series vs. RIT and Mercyhurst usually provide plenty of bang for the buck, too.
Home cooking
Not only do the Falcons play 19 of their 36 games at home, but aside from the trip to Lindenwood in Week 2, they don’t leave Colorado until a four-game trip around Thanksgiving. Then it’s back for four more at home leading up to the Christmas break.
Of course, that door opens in both directions as the Falcons only have three home series in the second half.
©First Line Editorial 2022
