When it comes to hockey, Air Force junior goaltender Dominik Wasik has nine lives — or at least more than one.

For the second time in his career, Wasik faced an uncertain future. He didn’t play a minute for Air Force in his freshman and sophomore seasons. After the Falcons’ 2024-25 season ended, he was told in an exit interview that he didn’t have a locker anymore. At the time, Air Force had goaltenders Carter Clafton, Toby Hopp and two incoming freshmen in Zane Spaniol and Dylan Krick for the 2025-26 campaign. 

Now, nine months later, Wasik has been a primary driver of success for the Falcons as their starting goaltender. He has an 8-4-1 record in his 13 starts since taking over for Clafton on Oct. 25. Wasik was named Atlantic Hockey America’s goaltender of the month for November when he led the conference with 241 saves. He has a .916 save percentage this season and a 2.41 goals-against average. The Falcons are fourth in the 10-team AHA after the first half of the season, which would land them a first-round bye and home playoff quarterfinal series if the season ended today. Air Force is unbeaten in its last six road games since Wasik took over, matching the conference-championship-winning 2008-09 team, per coach Frank Serratore. 

His victory over potentially career-ending adversity didn’t happen in the fall, but rather in the moments after his exit interview last season.

“I had to accept the fact that, ‘Hey Dom, you might not make the team,’” he said. “That’s the mindset that I kind of went in with was like, ‘All right, accept the fact that you might not make the team, but you can’t accept the fact that you won’t do everything that you can possibly do to try and work your way back into a locker spot.’ And so, that helped me erase the fear out of the equation.”

The netminder from Superior, Colo., worked hard during the summer, preparing himself mentally and physically on the ice, and visually at the Academy’s human performance lab. Between a good performance in the offseason and in training camp, and an injury to one of the freshman goalies, Wasik earned his locker back. 

Air Force began the season in search of a primary goaltender after three-year starter Guy Blessing graduated. Though the competition was close, Wasik’s fellow junior Clafton received the nod for the team’s exhibition at Omaha on Oct. 3 and subsequent season opener against Denver on Oct. 10. 

At first, life was good for Air Force with Clafton in goal. He set a conference-era program record in the opener, making 58 saves against the Pioneers. But while Clafton was ready for the test of opening weekend, the test of time would prove to be another story. Fifteen days later, Air Force made the switch to Wasik. 

“At the end of the day, whoever’s starting, we know that we’re going to give our best effort and give a chance for the team to win,” Wasik said of his competition with Clafton. “We bonded over that over the summer, talking about goalie stuff. It is weird, right? We’re both in the same grade but it’s a healthy competition, and I don’t think I would be as good as I am without him pushing me and vice versa.”

If there was anyone prepared to go from not having a locker to conference player of the month, it’s Wasik.

In 2022, he was released from the Johnstown Tomahawks of the North American Hockey League in his final year of juniors. Unsure of the future, Wasik reset his mentality. 

“It was like, ‘OK Dom this is my last stab at it and let’s just remember why you started playing hockey.’ It’s kind of cheesy, but that’s what helps me. It’s not all about the results. It’s about when you were a little kid, you just loved having fun, you embraced the challenge of making those big saves and meeting people around the world,” he said. “It was eye-opening for me and relieved the pressure that I put on myself that maybe got me in that situation in the first place.” 

Wasik relied on the words from his mentor Steve Briere, who served as a goalie coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2015 to 2023. Briere taught Wasik to take hockey one day at a time and one shot at a time. He also helped Wasik find a new home in juniors that season with the Steinbach Pistons of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. He played 53 games for the Canadian team, posting a .924 save percentage in the regular season and a .921 average in the playoffs to help the Pistons win a championship.

“The coach up (at Steinbach) ended up taking a chance on me, so I drove all the way from Pennsylvania to Manitoba and had to prove myself there and ended up having a great season,” Wasik said. “We won the Turnbull Cup for the MJHL. … That was a great year.”

Wasik’s season this year is reminiscent of his time with Johnstown and then with Steinbach, but can he help the Falcons lift an AHA title, much like he helped the Pistons win theirs? In true “one shot at a time” fashion, that’s a question for another day as far as Wasik is concerned. 

Right now, he’s enjoying the holiday break. 

“It’s all about unplugging and resting, getting away from the game for a bit. We’ll obviously go on the ice a few times, but really just be with family and friends and unplugging because I think everyone needs a break,” Wasik said. “The mindset, I think it’s just we still gotta learn. We still gotta learn as much as we can and when it’s time, it’ll be time to go, but I’m honestly not even looking that far ahead. I’ll look that far ahead when it’s here.”

Wasik and the Falcons will return to the ice in the new year, taking part in the Desert Hockey Classic hosted by Arizona State on Jan. 2-3.