HHIISSTTOORRYY HISTORY OF FALCON HOCKEY With the drop of the puck to begin the ed a 24-5-1 mark for the school’s best winning standout, Chuck Delich. Delich, who still ranks 2009-10 season, the Falcons will enter their percentage. What will best be remembered 10th in NCAA history in career points per game, 42nd season of Division I hockey. from that team is a pair of dramatic one-goal shattered every school record in his four years. With the Academy still in its infancy, the wins over Colorado College. After taking over the program in 1985, dream of hockey at the youngest military acad- Matchefts went on to win 154 games in 11 Delich garnered early success much like his emy was born. seasons before passing the baton to his former predecessor. In his second season, he posted a In 1958, a group of cadets began an intra- 19-10 record, the most wins in 10 years. mural hockey team. Relying on freezing tem- He then strung together a school-record peratures and the shadows from the dormito- five consecutive winning seasons in his 12 ry, cadets donned football and lacrosse years while tying the school record with equipment and played hockey in the court- 154 coaching wins. During the Delich yard of Vandenberg Hall. years, the Falcons posted a winning record against rival Army, including a 6-1-1 A few years later one of the greatest col- record at home against the Black Knights. lege hockey coaches ever, Vic Heyliger, became interested in such a fledgling pro- The third decade of Falcon hockey gram. With six national championships to his brought several changes to the program. credit at Michigan, the “Father of Air Force The 70s The 80s Frank Serratore, who has coached at near- Hockey,” came to the Academy in 1966 and ly every level of hockey, took over in 1998. guided the club team. His enthusiastic, disciplined style of hock- Dave Spannbauer, 1974-77 John Anzelc, 1986-89 ey injected a new energy into the program. At long last came the night of Nov. 29, He has led the Falcons to more Division I 1968, when the first hockey game was played victories than any other Falcon coach. at the Cadet Ice Arena. The Falcons defeated the Colorado All-Stars, a collage of former In Serratore’s 10th season, he took the collegiate players, 8-6. The first game was program to new heights. The Falcons not without its share of quirky moments. claimed the Atlantic Hockey Association During the first shift in the first period, a slap championship and played Minnesota in the shot was taken and went completely through NCAA West Regional, both firsts for any the “shatter-proof” glass and onto the run- service academy team. A 4-3 loss to the ning track in the multi-purpose area. Gophers only whet the Falcons’ appetite. Serratore backed that championship sea- The Falcons finally got their first taste of The 90s The 2000s son up with another ring as the Falcons intercollegiate competition in the new arena won the AHA title and faced second- and it was not pleasant. Notre Dame, another John Decker, 1992-95 Billy Devoney, 2004-07 ranked Miami in the NCAA Northeast first-year program, swept the Falcons, 8-1 Regional, falling to the RedHawks in over- and 5-4. Air Force gained time. its first home win with a 6-4 win over Ohio State After knocking on the on Jan. 17, 1968. Coaching History door twice, the Falcons Coaching History finally kicked it in with a The program contin- record-setting season in ued to gain momentum, 2008-09. AFA won a Coach Years Seasons G W L T Pct. posting its first winning school-record 28 games, Vic Heyliger 1969-74 6 165 85 77 3 .524 season in 1970-71 with a won its third straight AHA 15-11-2 record. John Matchefts 1975-85 11 310 154 150 6 .506 championship and won Chuck Delich 1986-97 12 370 154 197 19 .442 However, it was the its first-ever NCAA game following season that Frank Serratore 1998-Pres. 12 442 198 212 32 .484 with a win over the sto- would be the Falcons’ Total --- 41 1287 591 636 60 .482 ried Michigan Wolverines. breakthrough year. With its humble begin- Heyliger hired his former nings in an outdoor rink All-American player at relying on the unpre- Michigan, John dictable Colorado weath- Matchefts, as an assis- er, Falcon hockey has tant coach and the grown by leaps and Falcons posted a 25-6 bounds. In the past 10 record in 1971-72. A few years, nearly 700,000 years later, in Matchefts’ fans have watched the first season as head Heyliger Matchefts Delich Serratore Falcons. coach, the Falcons post- 2007-08-09 AHA Champions and NCAA Qualifier 56 2009-10 Falcon Hockey U.S. HOCKEY HALL OF FAME Having only four head coaches in the 42 seasons of varsity hockey, the Air Force Academy is proud to have two former coaches elected to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame: Vic Heyliger and John Matchefts. VIC HEYLIGER JOHN MATCHEFTS HEAD COACH HEAD COACH 1969-1974 1975-1985 Vic Heyliger, the “Father of Air Force Hockey,” came to the John Matchefts was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Academy in 1966 to coach the Falcons’ club team. In 1968- Fame in 1991 and was named to the NCAA’s 50th anniversary 69, he became the Falcons’ first varsity head coach. In his six hockey team in 1997. Matchefts played on three national seasons at the helm, the Falcons quickly became a competi- championship teams at Michigan under Vic Heyliger from tive hockey program at the Division I level. Heyliger led the 1951-53. Matchefts earned All-American honors in 1951 and Falcons to an 85-77-3 record, including a phenomenal 25-6 1953, was twice named to the all-tournament team at the record in 1971-72, the fourth season of varsity hockey. NCAA Championships and was the finals MVP in 1953. The native of Concord, Mass., will always be regarded as Following his college playing career, Matchefts played on one of the greatest college hockey coaches ever. In 13 sea- the USA National Team in 1955 and earned a silver medal as sons as the head coach of his alma mater, Michigan, he led an alternate captain with the 1956 USA Olympic Team. After the Wolverines to six NCAA Championships. He led the serving as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, Wolverines to a 228-61-13 record from 1944-57. Matchefts returned to hockey in 1957 as the head coach at In his fourth season, he led the 1948 Wolverines to a 20-2- Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls, Minn. While coaching 1 record and the school’s first NCAA Championship ever. He at Lincoln and his alma mater, Eveleth High School, he led the repeated the feat in 1951 as Michigan posted a 22-4-1 record 1959 and 1960 teams to the state tournament and never had and defeated Brown, 7-1, in the championship game. That a losing season. title was Michigan’s first of three straight championships and The native of Eveleth, Minn., guided the Colorado College five in six years. Heyliger was a three-year letterman at hockey program for five seasons and posted a 48-72-2 mark. Michigan from 1934-37. The outstanding defenseman award He was named the 1969 Western Collegiate Hockey at Michigan is named in his honor. Following his playing Association Coach of the Year. career at Michigan, he played three seasons in the National Matchefts came to the Academy in 1972 as an assistant Hockey League with the Chicago Blackhawks. coach to Heyliger for three seasons. He took over the head The 1938 graduate of Michigan began his coaching career coaching duties in 1974. In 11 seasons, Matchefts led the at the University of Illinois. In four seasons, he guided the Falcons to a 154-150-6 record from 1974-85. In his first sea- Illini to a 59-29-4 record. Heyliger, who was instrumental in son at Air Force, he led the Falcons to a remarkable 24-5-1 the development of the Western Collegiate Hockey record, the second-best mark in school history. He also paced Association, was named the National Collegiate Coach of the the Falcons to four winning seasons in his first five years. His Year in 1953. After leaving Michigan in 1957, he remained 154 wins are tied with Chuck Delich as the second-most active in hockey as he coached the USA National Team that career hockey coaching wins in AFA history. competed against the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. As an assistant coach, Matchefts went back to his home- He was elected to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in town to recruit a player who was overlooked by nearly every Eveleth, Minn., in September 1974. other Division I school. Four years later, Chuck Delich became Heyliger passed away in 2006. Air Force’s all-time leading scorer and one of the most potent offensive players in NCAA history. After spending four sea- sons as Matchefts’ assistant, Delich succeeded him as the Falcons’ head coach in 1984. 2007-08-09 AHA Champions and NCAA Qualifier 57 2009-10 Falcon Hockey FALCON HOCKEY WALL OF FAME Many outstanding hockey players have worn the #4 Gary Batinich #4 Mark DeGironimo blue and silver in the past 41 years, but these 25 Wing, 1975-78, Eveleth, Minn.