Air Force beats Army 7-5 in community hockey game

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. William Banton
  • Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Air Force goalie Thomas Nguyen looked exhausted, consternation and sweat easing off his face. He had just survived the onslaught of a five-on-three power play, facing an Army team determined at all cost to obtain glory in the inter-service rivalry this year.

Thanks in part to Nguyen's efforts, the Air Force came out victorious in the second annual Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Army vs. Air Force hockey game with a 7-5 win.  The two-point difference hardly depicted the close struggle throughout three periods of furious competition.

The inter-service game at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska, was conceived by Army Maj. Gen. Michael Shields, U.S. Army Alaska commanding general, as a way to foster esprit de corps between the two primary JBER military branches. The teams this year also featured members of the Marine Corps Reserve and Alaska National Guard playing for the Army and members of the Royal Canadian Air Force and Air National Guard playing for the Air Force.

"I knew going into this game that the teams were evenly matched and that it would probably come down to goalies, and I think that played out," said Air Force coach Steven Calvin. "Our goalie had an outstanding game. He stood on his head a couple of times and made some outstanding saves."

The Air Force came out strong and ended the first period with a score of 3-1 - a lead it would hold until the third period.

"Getting that buffer was kind of nice, but we lit a fire underneath them and they came out hard the second and third period; it was a great game," Nguyen said.

According to Army forward Taylor Francis, the Army's strategy was to take advantage of their speed to outmaneuver the Air Force. 

"They (Air Force)are definitely all skilled. They have good hands, so it's hard to get the puck away from them when they have it," said Francis. "They can move the puck a lot; they have good crisp passes across the ice and they play well as a team."

In the third period, the Army scored twice, tying the game at 5-5. The tying goal came during an Army power play when Army forward Matthew Hickey, moving down the right boards and catching the Air Force during a line change, passed the puck to forward Theodore Haras, who capitalized on the mismatch and netted the puck.

Despite the Army's momentum, which had been building since the second period, the Air Force scored two go-ahead goals to clinch the win.

"Our defense, for the most part, controlled the puck," Calvin said. "The Army was definitely younger and faster. When we could control the puck we had the momentum, but when we gave the puck away, for whatever reason, we were scrambling a lot of times. It was a stressful game, but it was fun too."

Calvin pointed out the game was played for more than just a year of bragging rights for the winning team and wouldn't have happened without the community's support.

"What we were trying to do is show the community that we are here and part of them and try to put on something that they can enjoy," Calvin said. "The fact that we had a couple of members of the military have a chance to win a new vehicle, to have the community to bring that to the table, say 'We appreciate you'... that's outstanding."

Attendance for this year's game quadrupled over the inaugural game in 2014, with a crowd of more than 2,000 people packing the stands.  The University of Alaska-Anchorage donated the use of the facilities for the game, which was played prior to UAA's military appreciation game later that evening.

"Events like this just show what's already happening on JBER," Calvin said. "It's just amazing what can happen when people put aside their differences and want to work towards a common goal."