Air Force opens its 2023-24 season on Saturday against Lindenwood, the second-year program from suburban St. Louis. To hear coach Frank Serratore say it, the geography is a bit off.

“This year I’m from Missouri, show me,” he said.

Air Force will seek a quick non-conference start before launching into Atlantic Hockey play a month from now. So what can Falcons fans expect in 2023-24?

“We have nine seniors and our overall depth is good,” Serratore said. “I like this group; they compete and they’re a very proud group. I liked last year’s group and the year before. Are we going to be able to content?

“Two years ago we reached the conference championship game, but last year we were in last place. We weren’t horrible and the league was tight.”

With that as the backdrop, here are keys to the Falcons’ season:

3 Keys to Air Force Hockey’s 2023-24 Season

Improved Special Teams

One of the hallmarks of the Air Force program is strong special teams play, especially its penalty kill. While the PK was effective 91.4 percent of the time over the final 10 games, too often it endured meltdowns. This weekend’s opponent, Lindenwood, scorched it for three power-play goals. Colorado College tapped it for four. Losses to Bentley and Holy Cross included multiple PPGs against them. Overall, the PK worked 81 percent of the time — 26th in the country.

“On the penalty kill side, we’ve developed a culture every year, and now coming into my senior year we want it to mean something to eat a puck here at Air Force,” co-captain Luke Robinson said. “People embodied that. We’ve turned the penalty kill into the power kill. We’re not we’re down a man. The other team has to beat us. That’s the mindset we have to bring.”

The power play clicked 15 percent of the time (46th in Division I). That won’t cut it for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is how reliant the Falcons are on the PP for offense.

“The biggest thing for the offense is having a productive power play,” Serratore said. “Will we put together the right guys?”

The defense, led by seniors Luke Rowe and Sam Brennan, junior Mitchell Digby and sophomore Chris Heddon will play a huge role in that. As will senior left wing Will Gavin. As hard as Rowe’s one-timer is (“You’d have to be crazy to stand in front of it,” goaltender Guy Blessing said.), Gavin’s shot is at another level.

“Gavin shoots it like a pro,” Serratore said. “I don’t think anyone in college hockey shoots it harder than Gavin.”

Goaltending Stability

Air Force had to start an NCAA-most four goaltenders last season due to injuries (Blessing and Maiszon Balboa) and a freshman leaving the program during the first semester. The results were uneven night to night. None of the four had a goals-against average under 3.00 and none had a save percentage above .900.

“Last year was kind of a whirlwind,” said Rowe, a three-time captain. “Hopefully, everything will be back to normal.”

Normal for the Falcons is excellence in net. Think about Air Force’s best teams. Whether it was Andrew Volkening, Jason Torf, Shane Starrett or Billy Christopoulos, when the Falcons had NCAA playoff runs, they had great goaltending.

Blessing, a junior, is the favorite to begin the season as the starter. He had Air Force’s only shutout last season and helped the Falcons earn points in seven of his 15 starts. Balboa, a senior, got the first four wins of his career in 10 starts and had the best gaa (3.07) of the quartet. Both are good-sized (Blessing is 6-foot-3, Balboa 6-2) and both gained valuable experience.

Two freshmen — Carter Clafton, who played in the North American Hockey League, and Dominik Wasik, who played in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League — are on hand to lend depth.

Serratore typically will identify his starter and play him every night. A goaltender who can steal a few games this season would go a long way to helping the Falcons because …

Offensive consistency

Air Force scored 36 goals in its first 12 games last season and went 6-5-1. In the next 10 games, that fell to 15 combined. During a slump that included one win in 13 games, they scored a total of 23.

“That was our biggest issue at times, we just stalled offensively,” senior forward Nate Horn said. “We have to play with the puck more in their zone, play free. When you’re playing free in the offensive zone, that’s when things open up. We didn’t capitalize enough on our power plays.

“Obviously, and I know it’s cliche, we have to get more pucks to the net.”

Balance will be necessary.

“At even-strength, we are going to need four-line scoring,” Serratore said. “We have some good offensive defensemen.

“All four lines are going to be capable of scoring. If things are going well for us, you will have a different hero every night.”

Final buzzer

Blessing, Robinson and Rowe all made note of how close this season’s group is. Having a veteran group of defensemen (all six returnees played plenty last season) also helps.

“The thing that comes to mind about our group is how tight it is,” Blessing said. “Having that camaraderie off the ice is huge, and how it translates to how we play is enormous. If you’re all on the same page with each other everything else falls into place.

“Having a group of defensemen the goalies can rely on and know that we trust is huge. Going into the season with that bond is something you can’t replace. I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out.”

©First Line Editorial 2023