2021–22 Air Force Falcons men's ice hockey season

After the worst season for the program in 25 years and likely its most trying, Air Force returned to the ice ready to put COVID-19 in the past. At the start, senior netminder and team co-captain, Alex Schilling, got the starting role but didn't perform particularly well. The Falcons got off to a 2–5–1 start with Schilling allowing nearly 5 goals a game on average. Despite the horrid start, Frank Serratore stuck with Schilling and the goals against slowly declined as the team got into its conference schedule.

A bad stretch at home in November sent the Falcons to the bottom of the Atlantic Hockey standings. While they recovered a bit by taking a series against Canisius, Air Force opened the second half of its season getting swept by American International. Fortunately, the rest of January was kind to the Falcons and they won five of their next six games to pull back into the middle of the pack. The team was up and down in the final month of the regular season and Air Force ended up 6th, guaranteeing them a bye into the conference quarterfinals, but making them do so on the road.

Air Force began its postseason against their fellow service academy, Army. The first game was a see-saw battle that saw both teams take two 1-goal leads. The Falcon offense opened up on Army's goal, firing 51 shots in nearly 4 periods of work and managed to earn the overtime victory. The second match was just as close with the teams again trading leads but, again, Air Force netted a goal in overtime to sweep the series and make the semifinals. Their match against RIT turned out to be a series of short-lived leads for Air Force as the Tigers tied the game quickly on three separate occasions. Near the mid-point of the third, however, the Falcons finally were able to hold onto their lead and fended RIT off for the final 10 minutes to send the team to the championship game. Air Force's season ended with a thud when the team was completely dominated by AIC, 0–7. The Falcons kept the game close initially, but the team got into penalty trouble, taking 40 minutes worth of infractions, and allowed four power play goals.

As of August 23, 2021.[1]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Guy Blessing	Freshman	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-05-08	Chandler, Arizona	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
2		Andrew Kruse	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1998-12-06	Delano, Minnesota	Minnesota Magicians (NAHL)	—
4		Luke Rowe (C)	Junior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-08-08	Succasunna, New Jersey	Boston Jr. Bruins (NCDC)	—
7		Brian Adams	Sophomore	F	5' 8" (1.73 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	1999-12-07	San Ramon, California	Wenatchee (BCHL)	—
8		Blake Bride (A)	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1998-04-22	Broomfield, Colorado	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
9		Lucas Coon	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-11-24	Steamboat Springs, Colorado	Odessa (NAHL)	—
10		Austin Schwartz	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-06-18	Parker, Colorado	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
12		Billy Duma	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1997-11-17	Wayzata, Minnesota	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
14		Jacob Marti	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-06-10	Highlands Ranch, Colorado	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
15		Bennett Norlin	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-10-26	Farmington, Minnesota	West Kelowna (BCHL)	—
16		Sam Brennan	Sophomore	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2000-01-16	Brighton, Michigan	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
17		Parker Brown	Sophomore	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	1999-09-08	Hanahan, South Carolina	Fairbanks (NAHL)	—
18		Ty Pochipinski	Junior	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1998-06-05	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Penticton (BCHL)	—
19		Jackson Sabo	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2000-12-19	Rosemount, Minnesota	St. Cloud (NAHL)	—
20		Brandon Koch	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-01-18	Hastings, Minnesota	Wenatchee (BCHL)	—
21		Jack Conroy	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-05-19	Chicago, Illinois	Bismarck (NAHL)	—
22		Drake Usher	Freshman	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2000-04-29	Upland, California	Wichita Falls (NAHL)	—
23		Willie Reim (A)	Junior	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1999-01-11	North Oaks, Minnesota	West Kelowna (BCHL)	—
24		Nate Horn	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	1999-03-02	Elk River, Minnesota	Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)	—
25		Jason Kleinhans	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-10-04	Herndon, Virginia	Danbury (NAHL)	—
26		Clayton Cosentino	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-06-18	San Carlos, California	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
27		Luke Robinson	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-02-16	Nashville, Tennessee	Dubuque (USHL)	—
28		Mitchell Digby	Freshman	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-06-26	Ottawa Lake, Michigan	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
29		Jasper Lester	Freshman	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2000-07-31	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Fairbanks (NAHL)	—
33		Alex Schilling (C)	Senior	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1997-12-23	Medina, Minnesota	Austin (NAHL)	—
37		Will Gavin	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	1999-10-21	Durham, Connecticut	Northern (NCDC)	—
41		Austin Park	Junior	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	1998-06-05	Highlands Ranch, Colorado	Wenatchee (BCHL)	—
47		Dalton Weigel	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1999-12-30	Bloomington, Minnesota	Aberdeen (NAHL)	—
51		Maiszon Balboa	Sophomore	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-04-18	Colorado Springs, Colorado	Shreveport (NAHL)	—
77		Frederick Paine	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-11-21	Duluth, Minnesota	Lone Star (NAHL)	—
82		Andrew DeCarlo	Freshman	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-07-23	Huntington Beach, California	Lone Star (NAHL)	—

[3]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 24.[4]