Air Force hockey coach Frank Serratore is so impressed with his team this year, he’s inviting fans to come watch practices.  “They’re a group that loves to be together. They love the game of hockey, they love to go out and compete every day,” he said. “I’ve told people on the radio s how, ‘If you’re not doing anything on an afternoon, come out and watch these guys compete in practice.’ It’s energizing, it’s a joy to be around.”  Serratore said the Falcons (9-7-2 overall, 6-5-1 AHA) have looked sharp and haven’t skipped a beat in practice since returning from the holiday break the day after Christmas. Air Force posted a winning record in the first half of the season and sits in fifth place (of 10) in the Atlantic Hockey America conference, which would net the Falcons a first-round bye in the playoffs. Finishing in fifth place or better won’t come easy as Air Force has a challenging schedule in the second half of the season. The Falcons will play defending AHA champion Bentley twice, play a series at conference leader Holy Cross, and host Sacred Heart University and rival Army.   Before the Falcons jump into conference play for the rest of the season, they’ll compete in Arizona State’s Desert Hockey Classic in Tempe, Ariz. this weekend. Air Force plays Michigan Tech at 3:05 p.m. on Friday and will face either the host Sun Devils or Alaska Anchorage at a time to be determined on Saturday. Serratore prefers to have the Falcons compete in a non-conference tournament following the holiday break as a way to knock the rust off. Last season, the Falcons didn’t have that opportunity and jumped straight into conference play. After splitting a pair of series, Air Force went on a six-game skid to end January. The correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation, but the lack of a non-conference weekend could have been a factor.  “I scheduled this non-conference tournament to create a foundation for the second half,” Serratore said. “After being off for 20-something days, you don’t want to have to come back and jump right in and expect to perform. … We want to use this weekend to get some of the rust off us and prepare us for the task at hand. We’re getting a big, heavy dose of the best of Atlantic Hockey here in the second half.” As the Falcons embark on the 2026 schedule, Serratore said the key to success will be in Air Force continuing to have a good penalty kill and good goaltending. Air Force’s penalty kill ranks third in the conference at .852 and junior netminder Dominik Wasik has led the group to eight wins in his 13 starts.  If there’s an area for improvement, Serratore said it’s Air Force’s power-play unit, which ranks sixth with a .150 percentage.  ...read more read less