COLORADO SPRINGS — It is officially playoff time for college hockey.
Both Colorado College & Air Force hockey will be on the road this weekend for their opening round playoff series.
The Falcons will face off against a familiar foe in rival Army in the quarterfinals of the AHA postseason tournament. The two teams squared off against this season at Cadet Ice Arena, with the Black Knights taking game 1, with Air Force winning game 2.
"It doesn't get much better than this," said Air Force head coach Frank Serratore in his weekly media press conference. "Air Force versus Army, do or die, fight to the death, chair forces against the ground pounders. It doesn't get much better. If you were a college hockey fan, if you're a service academy college hockey fan then it don't get any better."
Puck drop for game one of a three game series is set for 5:05 p.m. local time in West Point.
As for the Tigers, they travel to North Dakota this weekend for their opening round NCHC playoffs.
CC was swept by UND in four games this season, with the Hawks averaging four goals a game.
Yet that Friday night game at Englested Arena this season gives head coach Kris Mayotte some hope his team can compete with North Dakota.
"This is probably the team that we played the toughest and did not get the results we wanted against them," explained Mayotte. "Here on Saturday night, it was a 2-1 game earlier in the year and they got two empty net goals. It was a 3-2 game up there where we felt like we were the better team. It's not just words, we can look back at our experiences and say hey in the situations we were the better team. They may have made one more play than you, but that doesn't mean they will this weekend. So you have to go up with the mentality of if you play your game you could be the better team."
Puck drop in North Fork on Saturday night is set for 6 p.m.
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