The Air Force hockey team votes in its own captains, and for the 2021-22 season, those wearing the ‘C’ deserve a double take – the projected starting goaltender and a defenseman who didn’t play last season.
Just unusual enough to work, perhaps.
“Our coaching staff couldn’t have done a better job ourselves,” coach Frank Serratore said.
Alex Schilling is the first goalie to serve as a captain at the academy since Mark Liebich in 1991-92 and the fourth overall, the team said. It’s a rare event in general. Schilling is the Falcons’ only four-year rostered senior.
Junior Luke Rowe was named the team’s most improved player as a freshman. As a sophomore he practiced and saw the Falcons daily but didn’t appear in any of Air Force’s 14 games while facing academy disciplinary action.
Rowe is set for a long-awaited return as the Falcons play Colorado College in an exhibition Saturday — the first game day at brand-new Ed Robson Arena.
“I feel like a little kid,” Rowe said. “I can’t really contain the energy I have for this game, and I know I’m not the only one.”
What taking off the spring semester, paired with the missed season, means for Rowe eligibility-wise is undetermined. Rowe went home following the death of one of his best friends. He decompressed after a trying year and reset his priorities.
“People say the highs are high and the lows are low (at the academy), and I fully agree with that,” Rowe said.
“Going home, you realize they absolutely are worth it. I just couldn’t wait to get back and see the boys and get this year going.”
He continued skating and added eight pounds to his freshman weight of 198. He guesses he’s stronger than he’s ever been. Rowe’s dedication isn’t the only reason he earned the ‘C’, but Schilling suspects it played a part.
“Luke is very committed to not only the team, but to the school,” Schilling said. “I think that is a piece, probably, in the voting, that runs through guys’ heads.”
“He’s someone that, vocally, he is a leader. He shows it every day.”
Willie Reim, the team leader in points and goals last season, is an alternate captain, along with Broomfield native Blake Bride.
Rowe expects to be the liaison of sorts between officials and the team on game days with Schilling in the crease. Schilling, who said he took on more responsibilities during the offseason, will be a standard-bearer as the team’s only senior –- in the traditional sense. Billy Duma, the team’s video manager, was called into action last season when injuries hit and played two games. He remains on the roster.
So there’s another double-take.
Schilling has played in 42 career games with 28 starts, splitting time with Zach LaRocque the past two seasons. “Weird circumstances,” including injuries and academy discipline, led to everyone in his graduating class except for Duma moving on.
Air Force, coming off a disjointed three-win season riddled with cancellations, is trending young again. The Falcons are without the services of fifth-year seniors and transfers, which other Atlantic Hockey schools use but academy rules complicate.
“We don’t technically have all the experience of all the teams we’ll be playing, but that doesn’t mean anything,” Rowe said.
“Going into games as underdogs quite a bit this year, but we’re going to make some noise.”
This content was originally published here.