The Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents the United States Air Force Academy. The Falcons are a member of Atlantic Hockey America. They play at the Cadet Ice Arena in El Paso County, Colorado, north of Colorado Springs. The Falcons have reached the NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament seven times in program history. It is the most appearances for a program without reaching the Frozen Four as of 2025.
History
Independent Air Force Academy's ice hockey program began as a club team in 1966, led by former Michigan head coach and six-time national champion Vic Heyliger. The program grew swiftly and posted a winning record by its third season. In their fourth season, the team posted an impressive 25-6 mark and had the nation's leading scorer on the roster, Dave Skalko. When Heyliger retired in 1974, turning the team over to John Matchefts, the success continued with two more 20+ win seasons in three years. By the time the 1980 rolled around, however, the team's on-ice results began to flag and after a pair of disappointing, single-digit-win seasons Matchefts pushed his team to a .500-record before turning control over to the program's all-time leading scorer. Chuck Delich led the program for the 12 seasons, posting moderate results for most of his tenure, but as the 20th century drew to a close, the Falcons' days as a plucky Independent were numbered.
CHA In 1997, former Denver head coach Frank Serratore was hired to replace Delich and recorded two 15-win seasons before everything changed for the Falcons. In 1999, Air Force became a founding member of the CHA, joining with the other service academy Army and five other newly-minted Division I teams. Despite the other programs having little history of success, Air Force was unable to make much headway in the conference, with the best finish being 4th out of 7 teams in their inaugural year. Army left the conference after only one year, leaving the conference with only six programs, and the Falcons found themselves as one of the worst. Air Force finished in 5th- or 6th-place for four consecutive seasons and threw in a pair of 4th-place marks for good measure. Despite their regular season woes, the Falcons did achieve some success in the CHA tournament, reaching the semifinals three times despite being an underdog. By 2006, however, it became apparent that the men's side of CHA (which had added a women's division in 2002) was in trouble. The Falcons left the CHA and were accepted into the Atlantic Hockey Association, rejoining Army in the same conference.
Atlantic Hockey Association
The change seemed to suit the Falcons, who posted their first winning season in 7 years. In the conference tournament, Air Force defeated Holy Cross 3-0 before stunning #1 seeded Sacred Heart 5-4 in overtime. In the championship match, the Falcons took on Army and routed the Black Knights 6-1 to win the program's first conference championship and receive their first bid into the NCAA tournament. Though they lost to Minnesota in the opening round, the success would continue for the next two years with two additional Atlantic Hockey tournament titles and culminated with a 28-win season in 2009 where they won their first regular season conference title and NCAA tournament game. After a middling season in 2010, the Falcons posted back-to-back conference championships but failed to escape the first round in either season. Air Force spent the mid-teens rebuilding their program, and it came to a head in 2017 with their sixth Atlantic Hockey crown. The Falcons played so well over the course of the season that there was some talk of them making the NCAA tournament even if they were to lose the Atlantic Hockey championship (an exceedingly rare occurrence for Atlantic Hockey Teams). Their second quarterfinal appearance was followed by another in 2018, where they were outplayed by eventual champion Minnesota–Duluth until the final period.
Atlantic Hockey America After the 2023–24 season, the Atlantic Hockey Association merged with CHA, which had become a women-only league after the 2009–10 season. The two conferences had shared a commissioner and office staff since 2010. The new league was unveiled on April 30, 2024 as Atlantic Hockey America, maintaining the Association's AHA initialism. All members of both predecessor leagues were brought into the new conference.
Season-by-season results
All-time coaching records As of the end of the 2025–26 season Tenure Coach Years Record Pct. 1968–1974 Vic Heyliger 6 85–77–3 1974–1985 John Matchefts 11 154–150–6 1985–1997 Chuck Delich 12 154–197–19 1997–Present Frank Serratore 29 490–472–106 Totals 4 coaches 57 seasons 883–896–134
Awards and honors
U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame The following individuals have been inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.
Vic Heyliger (1974) John Matchefts (1991)
NCAA
Scoring Champion Dave Skalko (1972)
Lowes' Senior CLASS Award Jacques Lamoureux (2011) Kyle Haak (2019)
Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award Mike Phillipich (2009) Dylan Abood (2018)
All-Americans AHCA Second Team All-Americans
Eric Ehn (2007) Jacques Lamoureux (2009) Tim Kirby (2012)
College Hockey America
Individual awards
Player of the Year Marc Kielkucki (2001)
Rookie of the Year Andy Berg (2000)
Student-Athlete of the Year Scott Bradley (2001) Brian Gornick (2002) Mike Polidor (2004)
All-Conference teams First Team All-CHA
Marc Kielkucki (2001) Brian Gornick (2001) Derek Olson (2002)
Second Team All-CHA
Brian Gornick (2000) Andy Berg (2001, 2003) Brian Gineo (2005) Michael Mayra (2006) Eric Ehn (2006)
All-CHA Rookie Team
Andy Berg (2000) Joe Locallo (2001) Zach Sikich (2002) Matt Charbonneau (2005) Eric Ehn (2005) Michael Mayra (2006)
Atlantic Hockey Association
Individual awards
Player of the Year Eric Ehn (2007) Jacques Lamoureux (2009)
Best Defensive Forward Brady Tomlak (2020) Austin Schwartz (2024)
Best Defenseman Gregg Flynn (2009) Tim Kirby (2012) Adam McKenzie (2013) Ben Carey (2016)
Scoring Champion Eric Ehn (2007) Jacques Lamoureux (2009) Tim Kirby (2012)
Regular Season Goaltending Award Shane Starett (2016) Billy Christopoulos (2018, 2019)
Individual Sportsmanship Award Jason Fabian (2014) Ben Carey(2016)
Coach of the Year Frank Serratore (2016)
Tournament MVP Mike Phillipich (2007) Brent Olson (2008) Matt Fairchild (2009) Jacques Lamoureux (2011) Jason Torf (2012) Shane Starrett (2017) Billy Christopoulos (2018)
All-Conference teams First Team All-Atlantic Hockey
2006–07: Eric Ehn, F 2008–09: Andrew Volkening, G; Greg Flynn, D; Jacques Lamoureux, F 2009–10: Tim Kirby, D; Jacques Lamoureux, F 2010–11: Scott Mathis, F 2011–12: Tim Kirby, D; Scott Mathis, F; Kyle De Laurell, F 2012–13: Adam McKenzie, D; Kyle De Laurell, F 2015–16: Shane Starrett, G 2016–17: Phil Boje, D 2018–19: Billy Christopoulos, G 2023–24: Will Gavin, F
Second Team All-Atlantic Hockey
2006–07: Andrew Ramsey, F 2007–08: Greg Flynn, D 2009–10: Andrew Volkening, G 2010–11: Jacques Lamoureux, F 2011–12: John Kruse, F 2013–14: Adam McKenzie, D; Cole Gunner, F 2014–15: Cole Gunner, F 2015–16: Johnny Hrabovsky, D 2016–17: Jordan Himley, F 2022–23: Luke Rowe, D 2023–24: Chris Hedden, F
Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey
2007–08: Eric Ehn, F 2010–11: Tim Kirby, D 2016–17: Shane Starrett, G 2019–20: Brandon Koch, D 2021–22: Brandon Koch, D 2023–24: Luke Rowe, D
All-Atlantic Hockey Rookie Team
2008–09: Scott Mathis, D 2010–11: Jason Torf, G; Adam McKenzie, D 2013–14: Chris Truehl, G 2015–16: Shane Starrett, G; Matt Serratore, F 2019–20: Brandon Koch, D 2021–22: Mitchell Digby, D; Clayton Cosentino, F 2022–23: Chris Hedden, D
Atlantic Hockey America Individual awards
Best Defenseman Chris Hedden (2026)
Best Defensive Forward Austin Schwartz (2025)
All-Conference teams First Team All-Atlantic Hockey America
2025–26: Chris Hedden, D
Third Team All-Atlantic Hockey America
2025–26: Dominik Wasik, G; Nolan Cunningham, D
Statistical leaders
Career Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes Player Years GP G A Pts PIMChuck Delich 1973–1977 109 156 123 279 151Bob Sajevic 1976–1980 113 107 121 228 54Dave Skalko 1969–1973 118 75 144 219 208Bob Ross 1968–1972 106 105 92 197 41Gary Batinich 1974–1978 104 82 114 196 107Tom Richards 1978–1982 118 78 90 168 54Mike Smellie 1976–1980 103 77 89 166 56Frank Daldine 1983–1986 109 79 77 156 75Dave Bunker 1970–1974 109 82 70 152 118Robin Robideaux 1975–1979 108 68 84 152 200
Career Goaltending Leaders
GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Minimum 35 games Player Years GP Min GA SO SV% GAAShane Starrett 2015–17 70 3918 128 9 .924 1.96Andrew Volkening 2006–10 127 7370 269 15 .915 2.19Stephen Caple 2009–12 36 1792 66 2 .908 2.21Jason Torf 2010–14 115 6561 269 10 .915 2.46Chris Truehl 2013–15 50 2745 124 3 .900 2.71 Statistics current through the start of the 2017-18 season.
Current roster As of August 12, 2025.
Falcons in the NHL Goalie Shane Starrett signed an Entry Level Contract with the Edmonton Oilers of the NHL on April 10, 2017. He is currently the only Air Force Falcons Men's Ice Hockey player to be in the NHL or respected affiliates.
References
External links Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey