Air Force hockey coach ranks #20 of influential sports figures

Top 20 Sports Figures
Starting today and continuing until Aug. 24, The Gazette will chronicle the 20 Most Influential Sports Figures in the Colorado Springs area.

We compiled a list of local sports power brokers and e-mailed it to numerous movers and shakers of the Colorado Springs sports community. They, and some members of our sports staff, had the not-so-simple task of telling us who would be on their list - from No. 1 to No. 20.

We received 37 full lists, partial lists and lists of all the people we should've added to the original list.

Folks with more than 20 were asked to whittle it down. Folks with fewer than 20 were asked to increase the number.
In the end, we received 22 lists of 20.

Twenty points were awarded to every first-place vote. Second place votes received 19 points, third place 18, fourth place 17 and so on.
The person with the most points received the highest rank.

On the 24th, when we reveal No. 1, we will also reveal the total number of votes each of the 20 people received. There will be an "others receiving votes category."

Media members were ineligible to receive votes.

Also on the 24th, on gazette.com you will be able to give us your arrangement of the 20 finalists.

No. 20 Frank Serratore, Air Force hockey coach

It's difficult to talk with Frank Serratore for more than five minutes without laughing about something he says. It's even more difficult to look at his body of work as the Air Force Falcons ice hockey coach and not be awed.

Serratore took a program that didn't even play a full Division I schedule and made it matter on a national scale. The Falcons played a mixture of Division I and III teams when Serratore took over the program in 1997. Last year, the fifth season with a full Division I schedule, the Falcons had a winning record against nationally ranked opponents, including a decisive 5-2 victory over the No. 4 ranked University of Denver Pioneers - the program that Serratore was fired from in 1994.

The Falcons finished the 2006-07 season with a 6-1 victory over service academy rival Army to win the Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament title and earn an automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament. At the West Regional, the Falcons were a little more than eight minutes away from shocking the college hockey world.

The Falcons held a 3-1 lead over the No. 1 seed Minnesota Gophers. The Gophers won 4-3, but the game showed that the Falcons had arrived.

Serratore's 2007-08 team backed the previous year's exploits by setting a school season record for Division I victories (21) and returning to the 16-team tournament.

It was the first time in AFA history that a team posted back-to-back tournament championship victories.

In the 2008 tournament, Miami (Ohio) was the tournament's top overall seed.

The Falcons took the Red Hawks to overtime before falling 3-2.

Serratore has taken the Falcons from the "have nots" to the "haves."

The past two seasons have been the best in 40. Serratore makes this list for making Air Force Hockey matter.

-

Columnist Milo Bryant can be reached at 636-0252 or milo.bryant@gazette.com. Check out Milo's blog, The Extra Milo, at milobryant.freedomblogging.com