An Evening at Cadet Arena

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How many rinks have you visited that have a B-52 aircraft strategically positioned in the lawn area adjacent to the entrance road? Besides your last stroll through airport security, when is the last time you went through a metal detector? And when is the last time you attended a hockey game where the assistant coach was dressed in a crisp Air Force military uniform? If you encounter these things the next time you're at a college hockey game, you must be at the Air Force Academy.

Don't worry about the metal detector or the B-52; every aspect of a visit to the Cadet Ice Arena on the Air Force Academy campus in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado is pure enjoyment.

Air Force on the Penalty Kill

Cadet Arena is a large boxy structure set on a hillside at the base of the Rocky Mountains. It's a dramatic setting with spectacular vistas of the Air Force Academy campus and the Rocky Mountains.

The rink sits at over 7000 feet above sea level and yet the surrounding mountain range still towers above the campus. It's a spectacular place.

As you enter the building there is a bright openness and airy feel to the ice arena that is uncharacteristic of most hockey rinks. The seating is elevated to glass level and the sightlines are great. There is an intimate feel to the rink and the atmosphere is buzzing and festive.

This isn't a raucous venue like Michigan's Yost or Cornell's Lynah Rink, it's a little more like family night out. But we're not talking about a trip to Pizza Hut and a movie; this is Division One, and Air Force plays top notch, high intensity hockey.

"Our rink is a pretty family friendly rink, it's not a rowdy place. When we get a good crowd in here; it's festive... We have a nice building and it's a good environment; it's a good atmosphere."

Coach Frank Serratore has built an up-tempo hockey team that continues to shake things up throughout the Atlantic Hockey Conference and beyond. In fact after the Bentley Falcons visited Cadet Rink in 2008, the Falcons were off to an 8 - 0 start and were the only unbeaten and untied Division One hockey team in the country. Air Force hockey is the real deal.

Air Force on the Powerplay

Cadet Ice Arena seats 2,502 but they don't always sell out every game. The reasons are pretty simple.

The academy has an enrollment of about 4,000 cadets. College life is pretty intense at the service academies and when the students do get a break, they often leave campus for some much needed rest and relaxation. So on the weekends, which is also when the hockey games are played, many of the students have left the campus and headed home or into the mountains.

So instead of a student crowd, hockey games at Cadet Rink are filled with local townspeople and families. Coach Serratore explains: "Our rink is a pretty family friendly rink, it's not a rowdy place. When we get a good crowd in here it's festive; I don't want to say it's a difficult place for visiting teams to play, I wish it was more difficult to play in for visiting teams. We have a nice building and it's a good environment."

Because Air Force is a military service academy, the fan support comes more from the community than the Cadets. "We get more of the Air Force hockey service community here, people who have families that have an attachment with the military. And then we have townspeople that are Air Force fans. We don't get a ton of students, and I think one of the reasons is you're at the Academy here."

Local Mites Battle It Out Between Periods

"We play our games on Friday and Saturday nights and the Academy kids like to get out of here on Fridays and Saturdays and go skiing or whatever; they're here all week and obviously it's a pretty challenging program. So we don't always have the student involvement we would like."

Coach Serratore acknowledges that there is one aspect of playing at Cadet Rink that gives Air Force a potential advantage, the altitude.

"I think the most difficult facet of coming here and playing against us is playing at 7,000 feet." The thin air can make a difference, especially for teams that come in from dramatically lower elevations.

Of course that advantage exists for all three of the Colorado hockey schools. A few miles to the south, Colorado College plays at close to 7,000 feet, and in the Mile High city one hour north, the University of Denver plays at 5,342 feet.

"We like to use the non-conference games against Denver and Colorado College to get better. It's like our basketball team playing North Carolina and Duke, it's like our football team playing Texas and Alabama... Those games come soon enough so I don't think about that much to avoid getting stomach acid."

There is one other advantage for the Falcons; these guys are good. On this night Bentley was clearly overmatched and like a fighter squadron, Air Force just kept coming, always on the attack and continually taking away time and space from the blue and gold Falcons. Coach Serratore was very pleased with his team's performance. "I'm happy but I'm wary. History tells you we will face adversity. It's eventually going to come and rear its ugly head in some way, shape, or form. Right now I want to savor what we've done; I'm real proud of the boys and real proud of our start."

"When we're on a roll our attitude is let's go see if we can get another one. Someday someone is eventually going to get us, but it doesn't have to be tonight. There isn't any pressure being 6 - 0; when you're 0 - 6, that's pressure."

Young Fans Greet the Falcons as they take the Ice

Coach might be right and his concerns might be well founded, but future opponents better be wary too. All four lines were in on the scoring on this night, and there were no apparent weaknesses in any element of the Air Force squad.

Tougher tests always lie ahead, especially when the Falcons face Denver and Colorado College. Coach Serratore doesn't see any point in thinking too far ahead though.

"We like to use the non-conference games against Denver and Colorado College to get better. It's like our basketball team playing North Carolina and Duke, it's like our football team playing Texas and Alabama... Those games come soon enough so I don't think about that much to avoid getting stomach acid."

Air Force puts on a good show at Cadet Rink. For the pre-game introductions the Falcons skate though a smoky haze.

Loud music fills the arena and the appreciative and knowledgeable fans help their team out at every opportunity counting down the end of each period when Air Force has the puck. When it's announced that the visiting team has returned to full strength after a penalty, the fans jeer in unison "WHO CARES."

On this night, despite the fact that Air Force had a five goal lead going into the third period, the fans stayed throughout and were loud and enthusiastic on every goal, all eight of them! At the end of the game, the Air Force players line up around the center ice circle and raise their sticks to the crowd. It may not be a crowd full of shirtless freshmen with their chests painted silver and blue, but the fans appreciate their Falcons, and the Falcons appreciate their fans.

It might make a lot of sense to follow the Air Force team closely. They epitomize the words team and balance. As Coach Serratore says, "We don't have a bunch of NHL draft choices. We get good second level players that come in and overachieve. We need to have four line depth; we can't be a top heavy team. When you play against us you play against all four of our lines." D1 foes throughout the league beware; the Falcons are the predators not the prey.

"When we're on a roll our attitude is let's go see if we can get another one. Someday someone is eventually going to get us, but it doesn't have to be tonight. There isn't any pressure being 6 - 0; when you're 0 - 6, that's pressure."