Air Force vs. Colorado College

Saturday, 6 p.m., Cadet Ice Arena

Radio/Streaming: XTRA 1300-AM; KRDO 105.5-FM / Flohockey.tv

Points of interest

Although this is the teams’ exhibition (they meet again at the end of October in a home-and-home series for the Pikes Peak Trophy), there are a couple of storylines to follow, and both of them center on the masked men.

For Air Force, sophomore Guy Blessing is expected to start in goal, replacing the graduated Alex Schilling, who was the Falcons’ man in net for the past three seasons. Blessing won two starts last season when Schilling was in Covid protocol and appeared in eight games. The Falcons’ lineup should be set as all of their skaters return. Two differences: senior forward Willie Reim is now co-captain with defenseman Luke Rowe, and junior defenseman Luke Robinson joins senior forward Blake Bride as assistant captains.

For CC, senior Matt Vernon and freshman Kaidan Mbereko are the two candidates to replace the transferred Dominic Basse (St. Cloud State). Vernon has played on and off his first three seasons and usually has acquitted himself quite well. Mbereko, however, comes from the U.S. National Team Development Program via the USHL’s Lincoln Stars. He was a member of Team USA’s World Junior Championship team along with forward Hunter McKown, the Tigers’ top returning scorer. Mbereko, who played hockey briefly in Colorado growing up, faced the Falcons two seasons ago while with the NTDP.

More Air Force: Season preview series

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