No. 18 Falcons travel to Arizona State
10/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
This Week
No. 18. Air Force (1-0-1) travels to Glendale, Ariz., for a two-game non-conference series with the Arizona State Sun Devils (0-2-0), Friday and Sunday, Oct. 14-16, at the Gila River Arena (Home of the Arizona Coyotes). Friday's faceoff is at 7:05 pm MT while Sunday's game is at 2:35 pm MT. Sunday's game will be televised live on the PAC-12 Network.
Live Stream
Friday's game at ASU will be video streamed. For the link, go to the hockey schedule page on GoAirForceFalcons.com. Every Air Force home game and every AHC game will be video streamed live on www.atlantichockey.tv. The service is subscription based.
Radio/Internet
Every regular-season and playoff game will be broadcast in Colorado Springs on Xtra Sports 1300 and on the internet at www.GoAirForceFalcons.com. Jay Ritchie will call the play-by-play while Dave Toller will provide color analysis. Pregame show begins 30 minutes before faceoff each day.
Scouting the Sun Devils
Arizona State is in its first full season at the Division I level and competes as an independent. The Sun Devils opened the season last weekend with a pair of losses at Notre Dame, 9-2 and 4-2. Freshman forward Tyler Busch scored two goals last weekend while Wade Murphy had two assists. Murphy is one of three NHL draft choices on the roster. Freshman Joey Daccord, an Ottawa draft choice, and senior Robert Levin each started a game in goal. Daccord made 42 saves in the first game. Levin gave up three goals and made 33 saves in the second game. ASU was called for 148 minutes in penalties in the ND series.
Series vs. the Sun Devils
This will be the first meeting between Air Force and Arizona State.
Ice Breaker Champions
Air Force is coming off of its first ever Ice Breaker Tournament championship. The Falcons defeated No. 5 Boston College in the first game and then tied Ohio State in the second game, but won the tournament based on a shoot out. In three appearances in the Ice Breaker, Air Force has a 2-3-1 record.
Killing It
The Air Force penalty kill was perfect in the Ice Breaker, killing all 12 opponent power plays. The Falcons are tied for first in the nation in penalty kill percentage and the 12 kills are the second most in the nation (Bemidji State has 13). Air Force led the AHC and was 11th in the nation in penalty kill percentage at 85.5 percent (100-117) last season.
The National Rankings
Air Force cracked the national rankings for the first time since the end of the 2011-12 season, when the Falcons won the AHC Tournament and played in the NCAA Regionals. Air Force is No. 18 in the USCHO.com national poll and is receiving votes in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
