Who are the Air Force hockey team’s good hands people? Part 4 of the Flight Path’s exclusive Falcons player survey, which returns for a second year, tackles this topic.

A total of 18 of the 28 players on the roster, or 64 percent, responded to the 2018-19 season survey. The survey includes 25 questions, broken down into various categories. Players were given multiple choices and promised anonymity for their answers. Questions pertaining to skaters only had skaters listed, same for goalie-related questions.

I hope you enjoy this fun exercise that picks the Falcons’ brains to help shed light on which teammates they view as the strongest in various categories.

MORE SURVEY QUESTIONS

Part 1 (Questions 1-4) deals with skating

Part 2 (Questions 5-7) deals with strength and toughness

Part 3 (Questions 8-10) reveals the shooting stars

Part 5 (Questions 15-17) looks to the eyes

Part 6 (Questions 18-22) gets defensive

Part 7 (Questions 23-25) hard work and leadership

Question 11: Who is the Falcons’ best stickhandler?

• Evan Feno – 16 votes (89 percent)
• Shawn Knowlton, Zack Mirageas – 1 vote

Analysis: Feno is one of the best on the team at creating his own scoring chances, and this – combined with his shooting accuracy – is one reason why. This category had the widest margin of results among any dealing with skaters to this point in the survey.

Question 12: Who is the Falcons’ best passer in traffic?

• Evan Feno, Brady Tomlak – 6 votes (33 percent)
• Matt Koch – 3 votes (17 percent)
• Shawn Knowlton, Zack Mirageas, Matt Pulver – 1 vote

Analysis: Though this question is weighted a bit toward centers, who tend to handle the puck more in traffic, it’s notable that two defensemen – Koch and Mirageas – appear here. Koch leads the Falcons with nine assists.

Question 13: Which Falcon delivers the best breakout passes?

• Matt Koch – 13 votes (72 percent)
• Alex Mehnert, Zack Mirageas – 2 votes
• Dan Bailey – 1 vote

Analysis: When the going is good for the Falcons they retrieve the puck in their zone quickly and move it up ice in short order. That ability has to be in the toolbox of every one of the defensemen to some degree, but Koch has excelled at it almost from Day 1 at the Academy.

Question 14: Which goaltender has the best glove hand?

• Billy Christopoulos – 16 votes (89 percent)
• Erik Anderson, Alex Schilling – 1 vote

Analysis: Billy the Greek gets a lot of practice using his glove hand at times because of the amount of odd-man rushes he faces. The offensive M.O. of most skaters in the current game is to aim high and try to pick corners, so having this skill is essential for a top-line goalie.

NEXT: The eyes have it

©First Line Editorial 2017-18