Flying High @ Air Force


Last season Air Force nearly flew by Minnesota in the NCAA Regionals. They play at Mariucci Arena in late December, led once again by a fleet of Minnesotans.

By Jamie MacDonald

Nestled into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, a hockey gem gleams at an altitude of more than 7,000 feet in Colorado Springs, Colorado. With majestic Pikes Peak as the backdrop of its sprawling campus, the United States Air Force Academy Falcons play in one of the most stunning home settings on the college hockey landscape.

Over the past few years, on-ice results have become worthy of a second glance at Falcons hockey, too.

Early this season, with a pair of wins over Quinnipiac, Air Force swept a ranked opponent for the first time in program history. Last March, the Falcons reached the NCAA West Regional semifinal, where they nearly knocked off heavily favored Minnesota.

For Golden Gophers fans who saw it as a dark day for the state of hockey in the State of Hockey (Air Force held a 3-1 lead in the third period), there is some irony in that much of the Falcons’ success is owed to players born and raised in Minnesota.

And while head coach Frank Serratore is quick to point out that the school is named the United States Air Force Academy for a reason — as  it includes players such as Hobey Baker finalist Eric Ehn who are drawn from across the country — he also recognizes that any story of a U.S.-born hockey program would be incomplete without players from Minnesota.

“I don’t really go into too much about where they’re from,” says Serratore, himself a Greenway High School alum from Coleraine. “We want the best people and the best players we can get.”

One of the deepest player pools is Minnesota’s, and Falcons from the state are proud of both traditions. In all, 10 of 28 players on the 2007-08 roster hail from Minnesota.

Among the most prominent is defenseman Greg Flynn, a junior from Lino Lakes. Like most Air Force cadets, he both accepts and appreciates the daunting but priceless opportunities of Academy life.

“I knew it was going to be a great school for me,” says Flynn, whose brother Ryan is a sophomore forward at the University of Minnesota. “Just the type of people we interact with every day, it has really been a pleasure for me, and I’m really happy with my decision to come here.”

Since Serratore’s arrival more than 10 years ago, Air Force hockey has made a number of strides, such as increasingly frequent wins over Division I opponents. Competing on a regular basis against the country’s ranked teams, though, is a slow process. Air Force appears to be moving in that direction.

During a 2006-07 season in which the Falcons barely fell in one-goal losses to Denver and Colorado College, they faced Minnesota prepared to win in the NCAA postseason. The 4-3 loss still bothers Serratore.

“I’m not happy about it and never will be,” says Serratore, who won his 200th game earlier this season. “It was a missed opportunity. To be honest with you, it haunts me.”

Serratore’s competitive spirit seems to fit well with the cadets, who by nature are given to well-rounded overachievement. Second-to-none Air Force facilities cater to those standards, but AFA life remains among the country’s most rigorous mind-body-soul challenges.

“I think it’s a common trait that everyone on our team has,” says senior Moorhead native Bryan Becker, a grandson of legendary Edina coach Willard Ikola. “Everyone comes to work, and they put that effort into their schoolwork and everything they do.”

Becker even supported his younger brother Matt’s decision to attend the Academy as a freshman this year.

“The more I looked into it and saw the opportunities it gave us, I got more and more interested,” says Matt, who affably copes with such “fourth-class” ignominies as using only the stairwells at the back of campus buildings. “With Frank being such a passionate coach, it got me pretty excited to come here.”

Attending the Academy isn’t a matter of walking off the street and coasting to a diploma. Admission requirements are commensurate with the honor of serving as military officers, and, once in, cadets are constantly graded on their military, academic and athletic achievement.

All elements are required during their days, which begin with mandatory breakfast and are nearly overwhelming from the start.

After graduating, cadets pay back their priceless education with service to the Air Force. Serratore prefers to call it an opportunity and rhetorically wonders how many other schools guarantee its students prestigious jobs upon graduation.

“It hasn’t been your traditional college experience by any means,” says senior captain Matt Charbonneau, who grew up in Stillwater with season tickets to the Gophers. “When you look back at some of the things you get to do here, it is pretty amazing.”
These days, for cadets, life is about much more than hockey. Balancing class loads around 20 credit hours is the norm, and there are no mail-it-in classes or days to sleep through breakfast ... and lunch.

“I talk to my brother at least a couple times a week,” says Flynn. “I just laugh. I’m taking 19.5 credit hours this semester.”

Against the backdrop of his players’ challenges, the abundance of pressures wrapped neatly in uniforms, Serratore is more than impressed by their effort, their commitment and their character.

“The kids who get in here are great all-around people,” he says. “And it’s good to be able to work with that type of person. They inspire me. They don’t just impress me. They inspire me.”

“All these dedicated athletes [are] the types of people I’d want to work with when I get done with hockey and move on to a professional career,” says Flynn.
These are also the players Serratore has the pleasure of coaching. It is no wonder the team with the very adult responsibilities can often stand up to teams that, on paper, might be more talented.

“I would like to maintain a team that others view as a very difficult team to play against,” Serratore says. “We want to be the hardest-working team in the country.”