The Atlantic Hockey Association’s first All-American and Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalist, the United States Air Force Academy’s Eric Ehn, is this week’s inductee into the Atlantic Hockey Hall of Honor.

He joins former Falcons Andrew Volkening and Jacques Lamoureux as the third Air Force player named to the Hall of Honor.

Ehn holds Atlantic Hockey single-season records for assists (40), assists per game (1.00), points (64), points per game (1.60) and points in CHA play (45) and shares the AHA record for assists per game in AHA play (1.00). His 29 assists and 1.61 points per game in AHA play in 2006-07 both rank No. 2 in conference history, with the latter being a shared record.

“I’d like to thank the Atlantic Hockey Association and its leadership throughout these years,” Ehn said. “I’m eternally grateful to be included in the AHA Hall of Honor. The conference has grown tremendously and presented an opportunity for growth to thousands of student-athletes. I carry a lot of pride that I was able to compete in Atlantic Hockey, and it will forever be a part of what made me into the person, husband, father, coach, and Space Force Guardian I am today. Yes, Space Force is a real thing.

“Gaining a college hockey experience while at the United States Air Force Academy was not something 20-year-old me understood the gravity of. Looking back after 15 years, I’m filled with gratification for the experiences and friendships. Every hockey player dreams of lifting Lord Stanley’s Cup or representing their country on the ice like Mike Eruzione. I never made the show nor the U.S. Olympic Team, but I got to put on the colors of my country and share the experience with people I love. Frank Serratore, Joe Doyle, Andy Berg and Mike Corbett gave me a chance and I can’t thank them enough. My teammates, the USAFA staff and the people in Colorado Springs turned my hockey experience into something just as magical as the dreams I had as a child. I’ll be forever grateful for my time as a cadet and the people I shared those year with.”

The Dexter, Mich., native and the Falcon hockey program joined Atlantic Hockey from College Hockey America at the start of Ehn’s junior campaign in 2006-07. He skated into the AHA having already posted a two-year career mark 57 points on 23 goals and 34 assists in two seasons in the men’s CHA, earning CHA All-Rookie honors in 2004-05 and All-CHA accolades in 2005-06.

Ehn’s debut season was one of the greatest scoring campaigns in Atlantic Hockey history as he posted his record-setting 16-29-45 line in AHA play to win the 2006-07 scoring championship and was also voted the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year after putting up a full-season line of 24-40-64 to become the first – and still only – player in Atlantic Hockey annals to reach the 60-point mark in a single season. The Falcons finished fifth in the AHA regular season but rolled to the Atlantic Hockey postseason title as Ehn led the Falcons in scoring with four assists in three postseason contests. The title sent Air Force to the program’s first NCAA Tournament at the West Regional in Denver where they battled top-seeded Minnesota before falling 4-3.

Ehn’s finished the season as the nation’s No. 2 scorer as he earned All-America accolades from the AHCA as well as Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalist status, the first such honors for an Atlantic Hockey player.

His senior campaign was slowed by injury as he missed 14 games mid-season due to a fractured ankle. Despite the setback, Ehn put up 25 points on six goals and 19 assists in 25 contests to help lead the Falcons to the second of what would become three consecutive AHA postseason crowns and another trip to the NCAAs, where he skated in his final collegiate game against Miami in the first round. Ehn was again recognized as an All-Atlantic Hockey honoree following the season.

“Eric Ehn is the closest I ever had to having a player who was a hockey genius,” Serratore said. “In my four years with ‘Ehner,’ I can’t recall giving him coaching advice more than a handful of times. A lot of players understand the game on paper but struggle transferring it onto the ice and into competition. The fastest game on the planet came naturally to Ehner, it appeared to be in slow motion to him, he processed situations quickly and was ahead of virtually everything that transpired on the ice. His approach was very academic, very cerebral, and everything he did on the rink was calculated and executed with surgical precision. I would liken him to Tom Brady and Joe Montana in football.

“In short, Eric Ehn was a coach’s dream, a low-maintenance, high-impact college-level superstar.”

After graduation in 2008, Ehn was commissioned as second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and continues to serve on active duty today.

Photo/U.S. Air Force Academy

(February 22, 2023)