Air Force hosts Calgary in exhibition game, Oct. 5
10/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Oct. 2, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
This Week
* Monday, Oct. 5, exhibition game against the University of Calgary at 6:05 p.m. at the Cadet Ice Arena. * Admission is free to the exhibition game Open the regular-season on the road for the second straight season * Regular-season opens with a two-game series against Bemidji State, Friday-Saturday, Oct. 9-10 * Friday's game is a 7:35 p.m. start while Saturday's game starts at 7:05 p.m.
Radio/Internet
* Every Air Force hockey regular-season game will be broadcast on the internet at GoAirForceFalcons.com * Every Air Force hockey regular-season game will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on AM 1300 KCSF. Every AHA game and all Air Force home games will be video streamed with audio by the B2 Network on a subscription basis. For more information, please go to AtlanticHockeyOnline.com
First Home Series
Air Force's first home series is Oct. 16-17 against Alabama-Huntsville at 7:05 p.m. each night.
Looking Back
* 28-11-2 overall record and tied for the regular-season championship with RIT with 42 points (20-6-2 AHA) * As the No. 1 seed in the tournament, AFA won its third straight AHA Tournament championship, earning its third straight NCAA berth by defeating Bentley and Mercyhurst in the AHA Final Four. Air Force earned its first ever NCAA Tournament with a 2-0 victory over third-ranked Michigan. The season came to an end with 3-2 double overtime loss to 10th-ranked Vermont in the regional final.
Season Highlights from 2008-09
* School record 28 wins (28-11-2 overall, 20-6-2 AHA) * First ever AHA regular season championship * Third straight AHA tournament championship and NCAA appearance. First ever trip to NCAA Elite Eight * First ever NCAA tournament win with a 2-0 shutout over third-ranked Michigan in NCAA East Regional * Two wins over teams ranked in top three in the nation (Colorado College and Michigan), a school record * Opened the season 13-0 and rose to No. 10 in the nation, the highest national ranking in school history and highest ever by a team not in one of the "Big Four" conferences * AFA set a new school record with 12 wins away from home this season * AFA's average regular-season attendance set a school record, averaging 2,630 per game. The attendance was 105 percent of the Cadet Ice Arena's 2,502 capacity, the highest percentage of any team in the nation * AFA was 16-4 at home last season, the most Division I home wins in school history
Falcons in Exhibition Games
Under Frank Serratore, Air Force has played nine exhibition games at the Academy. * The Falcons are 7-0-2 in those games since 200-01 * Eight of those games have come against universities from Canada. The other was an exhibition against the U.S. Under 18 team in 2001-02 (6-6 tie). * AFA defeated Alberta, 3-1, in exhibition hockey last season * AFA last played Calgary in 2006-07, a 4-2 Falcon win
Preseason Atlantic Hockey Poll
* Air Force was picked to win the AHA by the league's coaches for the second straight year * Air Force received eight first-place votes and 80 points Mercyhurst received the other two first-place votes and was second; RIT was third followed by Holy Cross
Preseason National Poll
* Air Force was among the other receiving votes in the preseason USA Today/ USA Hockey national poll. * This marks the third straight season that Air Force has received votes in the preseason poll Air Force finished last season ranked 15th in the USA Today poll and 18th in the USCHO poll and
Season Openers
* Air Force is 19-19-3 overall in season openers. The Falcons are 12-12-1 when opening the season on the road. V * Last season, Air Force opened the season on the road and swept the two-game series at Sacred Heart * The Falcons are 5-5-2 in season openers under Frank Serratore.
Team Captains
* Seniors Jeff Hajner and Brett Nylander will wear the "C". Senior Matt Fairchild and junior Jacques Lamoureux will wear the "A".
Serratore Closing in on #200
* Head coach Frank Serratore is already the winningest coach in Air Force hockey history * He enters the 2009-10 season with a 198-212-32 record (12 years) at Air Force and a career record of 247-304-41 in 16 years as a college coach.
Returning All-Conference Players
* Four Falcons who earned all-AHA honors last season are returning in 2009-10 * Senior goaltender Andrew Volkening was a first-team all-AHA selection and earned all-tournament honors at the AHA Final Four and the NCAA Regional last season Volkening set new school records for wins (28), goals against average (1.97), saves percentage (.920) and shutouts (6) last season * Senior forward Matt Fairchild, a third-team all-AHA selection last season, was the MVP of the AHA Final Four last season. Fairchild was second on the team with 17 goals and fourth with 37 points. He scored three of AFA's four goals in the AHA Final Four last season. * Junior forward Jacques Lamoureux was the AHA Player of the Year last season and a first-team all-league selection. He was a first-team INCH and second-team East coaches All-American. The Hobey Baker finalist led the nation with 33 goals, 15 power-play goals and nine game -winners. His 53 points were second in the nation. * Sophomore defenseman Scott Mathis was an all-rookie team selection. He was second in the AHA in points by a freshman defenseman with 12 (3-9-12) points in 28 league games. In all games, he had 23 (4-19-23) points in 40 games.
