Three years in a row, Air Force hockey video manager Billy Duma has seen a wave of injuries hit the team.

“There’s a lot of jokes of, ‘Hey Duma, one more guy goes down and you’re going to be back in the lineup,’” the junior recalled.

“It just finally happened I guess.”

He absorbed the jokes until about a month ago, when he was asked to start practicing with the team. Then in the Falcons’ second game of the season at AIC, he dressed as the extra skater and took part in warmups wearing the No. 10.

Who’s chuckling now?

Everyone. A little.

“We’re getting down to dressing the student manager — that’s the bad news,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said.

“The good news is our student manager is a pretty good hockey player.”

Duma, a Plymouth, Minn. native, co-captained the state championship winning Wayzata High (Minn.) team that Air Force’s starting goaltender and reigning team MVP Alex Schilling was also a part of. Duma then split his two years of junior hockey between the Coulee Region Chill and the Amarillo Bulls of the NAHL.

The forward was recruited to play at Air Force. Some small part of him always worried that at 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds, he might not be big or good enough to be a college hockey player.

“Coming in freshman year, I’d just lost a lot of weight in basic (training) and really just didn’t put my best foot forward,” Duma said. “So the coaches made the decision to cut me, which honestly is probably one of the better things that has happened in my life.

“I kind of had to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘What are you going to do about it?’”

He knew he’d miss the team atmosphere. So he took the weekend, then on Monday morning, went back to the coaches’ offices and offered his service in any capacity.

Duma was shown how to cut film from practice, NHL games and scouting materials. A playing background helped him know what to look for.

With Air Force hurting before the COVID-19-delayed season even started, he got the perfectly serious request that had been joked about for so long.

“With the attrition that we’ve suffered this fall, we brought Billy back out of the mothballs,” Serratore said. “With his background and his knowledge of the game, it was a no-brainer and he’s done a fabulous job for us.”

Serratore joked that Duma’s “hit puberty” since he was cut. Duma said he put on about 30 pounds, though he was listed at 175 on Saturday’s line chart. If anything, coach and player/manager say he could stand to lose some.

He’d skated sparingly since moving behind-the-scenes.

“It was not easy getting back out there,” Duma said. “I think the first practice I had to tell a couple guys, ‘OK, you need to step in for me, because I honestly might pass out if I get out there any more.’”

However when he took part in warmups in Springfield, Mass., he fell right back into his old pregame rhythms.

Serratore said the Falcons hope to have several missing players back soon. The returns of Keenan Lund, injured in that first series against AIC, and Shawn Knowlton, who broke his wrist but may play in a cast, sound imminent. Co-captain Jake Levin has been ruled out for the weekend series due to contact tracing.

Duma practiced with the team Thursday and was waiting on the lineup sheet along with everyone else. Air Force (0-2-0) is set to host Robert Morris on Friday and Saturday without fans in attendance.

“If everyone gets back out on the ice and they don’t need me anymore, I did my job,” Duma said. “If they want to keep me around for whatever reason, I’d be more than happy to.”

“Whether it’s video manager or player, I really don’t care. I just really love being a part of the atmosphere.”

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