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Freshman flying with new flock
  
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By Ryan Boldrey
Air Force freshman forward Kyle De Laurell never considered himself much of a “military person.”
Of course, that is, until his family moved from Anaheim to Colorado Springs in 2005.
“The Air Force Academy was right here and I just started learning a lot about it and it caught my interest,” said De Laurell, then a junior at Pine Creek High School.
It didn’t hurt either that he was playing midget hockey for the Colorado Rampage with Air Force coach Frank Serratore’s two sons— Tim and Tom— at the time.
“That gave me a little exposure to the academy and they started looking at me then and there,” he said.
Ironically, for a young man who hadn’t considered himself much of a military person, his final decision of where to go to school came down to AFA and Army.
“The military teams were both recruiting me really hard, so I wanted to take a look at both of them and see which one was more to my suiting,” he said. “Both schools are great schools, but definitely the hockey here, and all of the coaching staff, it’s just a great opportunity for me here.”
Serratore is pretty happy to have the young forward join his ranks at the academy too, especially since this last weekend alone De Laurell assisted on four Falcon goals over the course of Air Force’s first two wins of the year; a 5-4 victory over RIT on Oct. 23 and a 3-2 overtime thriller over the Tigers on Oct. 24, both at Cadet Ice Arena.
“He’s not as fast as the other players, but he’s got better puck skills and vision than most of them, so that’s what we are looking for him to bring to the table,” Serratore said. “The better he can become as a skater the more he is going to be able to better utilize the strengths of his game. I’m pleased with what I see now, and I’ll be really curious to see him next year after he’s been able to train and be in the weight room for a year.”
Through five games played this season De Laurell has tallied five points, all assists. Three of the assists came in Air Force’s 5-4 win over RIT, a night in which Serratore had nothing but praise for his young 20-year-old forward.
“I thought they were our best even strength line,” he said of De Laurell and fellow freshmen fourth liners John Kruse and Danny Durham.
“De Laurell showed signs of a power forward. He looked like [NHL Hall of Famer] Cam Neely a couple times taking that puck to the net, and we, usually, don’t have that. We usually have the small guys that are fast but at times have a hard time penetrating and he just willed his way to the net a couple times which resulted in a couple goals for us.”
The point production is something Serratore expects to see out of De Laurell and his line mates, but he has been pleasantly surprised to see it coming so early on in the year.
“If you had said ‘hey Frank did you think your freshmen line would lead you to the promised land tonight?’ No, I never would’ve thought that,” he said after the team’s first win of the weekend.
“All of our guys bring a strength and we recruit them for a certain reason and his strength at this level is legit,” he said. “He’ll be able to produce points. And although he’s a fourth-line player right now, if we have one injury in the top three, he’ll be the guy going up. He’s our tenth forward. He will get some time in the top three lines this year.”
De Laurell, who joins the likes of Woodland Park’s Sean Bertsch and Centennial’s Brad Sellers as natives on the squad, is part of what appears to be a wave of homegrown talent coming into the Air Force program.
“Air Force has three Colorado players on their future commit list, so you are going to see even more of a Colorado flavor in this program in the years to come,” Serratore said.
NCAA regulations won’t allow Serratore to disclose who those commits are at this time.
Of course, that is, until his family moved from Anaheim to Colorado Springs in 2005.
“The Air Force Academy was right here and I just started learning a lot about it and it caught my interest,” said De Laurell, then a junior at Pine Creek High School.
It didn’t hurt either that he was playing midget hockey for the Colorado Rampage with Air Force coach Frank Serratore’s two sons— Tim and Tom— at the time.
“That gave me a little exposure to the academy and they started looking at me then and there,” he said.
Ironically, for a young man who hadn’t considered himself much of a military person, his final decision of where to go to school came down to AFA and Army.
“The military teams were both recruiting me really hard, so I wanted to take a look at both of them and see which one was more to my suiting,” he said. “Both schools are great schools, but definitely the hockey here, and all of the coaching staff, it’s just a great opportunity for me here.”
Serratore is pretty happy to have the young forward join his ranks at the academy too, especially since this last weekend alone De Laurell assisted on four Falcon goals over the course of Air Force’s first two wins of the year; a 5-4 victory over RIT on Oct. 23 and a 3-2 overtime thriller over the Tigers on Oct. 24, both at Cadet Ice Arena.
“He’s not as fast as the other players, but he’s got better puck skills and vision than most of them, so that’s what we are looking for him to bring to the table,” Serratore said. “The better he can become as a skater the more he is going to be able to better utilize the strengths of his game. I’m pleased with what I see now, and I’ll be really curious to see him next year after he’s been able to train and be in the weight room for a year.”
Through five games played this season De Laurell has tallied five points, all assists. Three of the assists came in Air Force’s 5-4 win over RIT, a night in which Serratore had nothing but praise for his young 20-year-old forward.
“I thought they were our best even strength line,” he said of De Laurell and fellow freshmen fourth liners John Kruse and Danny Durham.
“De Laurell showed signs of a power forward. He looked like [NHL Hall of Famer] Cam Neely a couple times taking that puck to the net, and we, usually, don’t have that. We usually have the small guys that are fast but at times have a hard time penetrating and he just willed his way to the net a couple times which resulted in a couple goals for us.”
The point production is something Serratore expects to see out of De Laurell and his line mates, but he has been pleasantly surprised to see it coming so early on in the year.
“If you had said ‘hey Frank did you think your freshmen line would lead you to the promised land tonight?’ No, I never would’ve thought that,” he said after the team’s first win of the weekend.
“All of our guys bring a strength and we recruit them for a certain reason and his strength at this level is legit,” he said. “He’ll be able to produce points. And although he’s a fourth-line player right now, if we have one injury in the top three, he’ll be the guy going up. He’s our tenth forward. He will get some time in the top three lines this year.”
De Laurell, who joins the likes of Woodland Park’s Sean Bertsch and Centennial’s Brad Sellers as natives on the squad, is part of what appears to be a wave of homegrown talent coming into the Air Force program.
“Air Force has three Colorado players on their future commit list, so you are going to see even more of a Colorado flavor in this program in the years to come,” Serratore said.
NCAA regulations won’t allow Serratore to disclose who those commits are at this time.
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