Loose pucks 

Notes from Air Force and Colorado College coaches and players

Air Force down two upperclassmen centers

The Falcons expect to get a big boost when senior captain Mason McCormick and junior center Nick Remissong return from injury. 

“I wish we got more out of tonight, but we are missing our top two centers,” associate head coach Joe Doyle said after the Falcons’ loss to Colorado College on Saturday. “They’re gonna be back. Maybe late first half, certainly the second half. McCormick broke his leg, great faceoff dude and (Remissong) broke his toe.” 

Falcons working their way through life without faceoff master Clayton Cosentino

The past three seasons, Air Force has had an elite centerman in former captain Clayton Cosentino. The forward out of San Carlos, Calif. ranked inside the top 10 in college hockey for faceoff wins in his sophomore season, and he led the nation in that category the past two seasons. Over that three-year span, Cosentino won more than 1,580 draws. 

“I would tell you we knew when Clay was here just how fortunate we were. Very few teams have guys who were winning in that 60-65% range. What that does to your special teams is through the roof. If you can win the tap on the PK and send it 200, it sets everything else up. On the power play, obviously, you get it, you’re already in zone and you’re playing so it’s massive,” Doyle said. “We are just trying to develop some guys right now and find some guys who can help us win, especially the special teams faceoffs because they’re that massive.”

Colorado College 

Ryan Alexander cracks CC’s top line at Air Force; Tomas Mrsic developing 

Tigers senior forward Ryan Alexander, who transferred to CC from Arizona State over the offseason, scored his first-career goal (an empty-netter) at Air Force and skated with the Tigers’ top line against the Falcons.

“Tonight I moved Ryan up to the first line for the third period with Owen (Beckner) and Bret (Link) and I thought they played really well together,” CC coach Kris Mayotte said after the Oct. 11 win at Air Force. “He brought some poise to that line, he can hang on pucks, he’s a senior. He’s been there, done that, so I thought he managed some danger areas really well for us.” 

Rookie forward Tomas Mrsic was bumped out of the top line in that change. Mrsic, a fourth-round St. Louis Blues draft pick, is still searching for his first-career point after four games with the Tigers. One of CC’s Canadian Hockey League recruits over the offseason, Mrsic led the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League in scoring a season ago. He earned 90 points on 33 goals and 57 assists.

Mayotte cautioned against overthinking the lineup change in that third period.

“(Mrsic is) growing. This is a process. We’ve been here before. He maybe hasn’t been here before but we’ve been here before,” Mayotte said. “He’s here for a reason and he had 90 points for a reason. He’s a really, really talented player and he just has to continue to find how he impacts games at this level. You see glimpses of it where he attacks and he uses his speed and he shoot pucks and all of those things. It’s just working in getting that consistent….and also being okay knowing that you might not create a scoring chance every shift. You might not touch the puck every shift. You might not feel good about your game for 45 minutes, but that’s okay. You have to go out and execute.”