November 23, 2006
Ramsey taking time to soar with Air Force
If New York is the city that never sleeps, hockey players from military academies are athletes who rarely do.
"You basically run on little sleep," said Air Force senior forward Andrew Ramsey, who scored five goals in two victories over visiting AIC last weekend.
"I typically have 18 credit hours on top of military requirements and briefings. I have a whole military class that isn't counted in our credit hours. Then there are mandatory breakfast formations at 6:30, and we march to lunch every day, and there are all these other things that are [requiring] your time, but our coaches do a good job of giving us the rest we need when we need it, and have tutors lined up for different courses. You really have to learn to manage your time well."
Ramsey, who heads into tomorrow night's game against Denver with 10 goals and nine assists in 13 games, is on Air Force's most productive line. He plays on the left side with leading scorer Eric Ehn (14-14--28) and Mike Phillipich (6-11--17). Against AIC, Ramsey snapped out of a four-game scoreless streak, collecting four goals in a 6-1 win last Friday and potting the winner in a 3-0 victory Sunday.
"It was actually kind of surprising," said the 21-year-old Indiana native. "I scored in the first period of both games. All of a sudden goals kept falling for me. A couple of them were through traffic. Sometimes the shots just fall."
Ramsey comes from a strong hockey pedigree. His maternal great-grandfather , John Sorrell, won Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings in 1935-36 and 1936-37. His grandfather was one of the founders of youth programs in Indianapolis.
"It's been kind of a given that everyone was going to play hockey," said Ramsey, who went to high school at Culver (Ind.) Military Academy with Joe Liles, younger brother of Avalanche defenseman John-Michael Liles. Joe Liles is now a senior at the Naval Academy.
"I wasn't too concerned with the military part," Ramsey said. "I didn't know a whole lot about the military when I went [to Culver]. I knew that if I wanted to play Division 1 hockey, I'd have to leave where I was playing in Indianapolis. I really didn't want to go the junior route because I'd heard horror stories about people getting traded all the time. I thought this was the way to do it, get a great education, and play some of the top hockey in the country. It worked out great for me."
At the end of his sophomore year, he began looking at colleges and although he didn't have a burning desire to go to a military academy, it was the best fit.
"It was one of those things where I thought, if I go there, at least I have a leg up because I know how to march and how to wear a uniform and do a lot of the military stuff that so many people aren't accustomed to," Ramsey said. " Army and Air Force were the two places that recruited me heavily out of high school and I also had some offers from some Ivy League schools, but they wanted me to play a year or two of juniors. My mind-set at the time was let's get to college and make the best of it and go somewhere where I'd be able to step right in and play. I ended up starting the majority of games my freshman year and became a two-year captain now. It's worked out great."
Ramsey admits that he is in a different place in life than regular college students. Friends at West Point are worried about being deployed to Iraq immediately after graduation next spring.
"In the Air Force it's a little different," Ramsey said. "The Air Force is being deployed more often, but not in the hot spot, so to speak. . . . We sit behind a desk for the most part, but we still have the likely chance of being sent over."
Ramsey, who is a management major with a minor in German, will handle government contracts once he gets his postgraduation orders. He has a five-year commitment ahead in the military and hopes to play hockey while serving his country.
"It's up to your base commander, whether they really need you to be focused on your military stuff or if there is some leeway," he said. "Some guys play home games for a team nearby. It's been a part of my life and it's gotten me so many places, I'd like to continue."