Army Assistant Coach and Liberty alumnus Maj. Johnny Cotton ('15) and Liberty Division II Head Coach Christian Garland meet at center ice after the Flames and Black Knights prayed following Sunday afternoon's 8-2 Liberty win. (Photo by Ted Allen)
DII men’s series with Black Knights was a homecoming for former Flames forward, current U.S. Army Major Cotton
10/7/2026 2:23:00 PM | Men's D2 Hockey
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Liberty has maintained its relationship with the alumnus and is establishing rapport with other programs, using hockey as a platform to share the Gospel.
When Liberty University's ACHA Division II men's hockey team hosted Army over the weekend in the LaHaye Ice Center, it welcomed back former player Johnny Cotton, who played four seasons for the Flames and served as head captain his senior year while completing his B.A. in International Relations through the Helms School of Government, graduating Cum Laude in May 2015.
Cotton, a major in the U.S. Army for the past 11 years, has served as an officer in charge and an assistant coach for the Black Knights, and has remained in contact with his alma mater and the Liberty Hockey community over the years.
Cotton dressed in uniform for Saturday night's first game between Army and Liberty.
"I commissioned in (the Army) ROTC (Eagle Battalion) here on a scholarship, played hockey here for four years, and I've been around the nation and the world," said Cotton, who has been deployed to Korea, Japan, and Thailand and now works at the United States Military Academy (Army) at West Point, N.Y. "This is my third year as part of the hockey space, and this is my last year at West Point. I'm going to move on to Kansas City to pursue another master's degree, and I'll be reassigned back to a leadership position in the Army."
Cotton's hockey career continued after Liberty, as he played one season at Columbia (N.Y.) University while earning his M.A. in Social Organizational Psychology in 2023-24. He scored 20 goals and distributed 14 assists in 16 games with the Lions, who competed as an AAU Division III program.
Now, aside from serving on Army's coaching staff, Cotton serves as head coach of his son's team, the Junior Black Knights, which plays out of the same Tate Rink as Army at West Point.
"It's amazing," Cotton said. "God's blessed me with the opportunity to play here, and now I'm coaching at Army and I'm invested in the youth game because my son's playing."
Flames second-year Head Coach Christian Garland, who played on Liberty's DI team while Cotton was on the DII squad, has maintained a positive rapport with him. Liberty defeated Army in its final game at the 2025 ACHA DII National Championships near St. Louis, Garland's last as an assistant coach before succeeding current DI men's hockey Assistant Coach Ben Hughes at the helm last season.
The Flames swept the Black Knights last February before splitting with them over the weekend at the LIC.
"It is really cool to have a really good relationship with Army and their coaching staff and especially him, a guy that was a captain here for our Division II team years ago and really, really cares about our program … and wants to pour into us and give back to us," Garland said. "He has helped us continue to take that relationship between the two programs to the next level."
He said Cotton has made a spiritual impact on Army's players over the past few seasons on the bench.
"I know he's part of a Bible study up there, and there's a bunch of believers on their team," Garland said. "It's really, really cool to see how God's moving through the sport of hockey."
Last February, Liberty's players and coaching staff had the opportunity to not only pray in a combined team huddle, but to share meals and testimonies with Army's squadron after both games. The Flames have carried on that fellowship with opposing teams this fall.
"It's tough to go to war on the ice and then do that stuff, but we want to keep doing it with other teams as they come in," Garland said. "Not every team is receptive to it, and we want to pour into those guys, too. But at the end of the game, if we've earned the right to pray with them, we can present the Gospel on the ice. Then, if we have a good relationship with them and they're willing to do it, then we can all get together as teams (for fellowship)."
When Liberty opened its season with a series split of reigning ACHA DII national champion Florida Gulf Coast University on Sept. 19-20 at the LIC, the Flames shared a meal with the Eagles afterward.
"(Senior forward and alternate captain Anthony) Emme shared his testimony, I shared a little bit of my testimony with the team, and we were able to pray with them and give them all Bibles and continue to build camaraderie between rivals," Garland said. "That's what we want to do with more teams as we continue to build relationships, to have more players on other teams have the opportunity to have the Gospel presented to them. That's why we exist as an institution, so it's a really, really cool opportunity. The most important part is spreading the Good News and growing the Kingdom, and you just never know whose life you might impact or change for eternity."
He said those opportunities are more important than the Flames' pursuit of their first ACHA national championship in the grand scheme of things.
"That's really the most critical thing to me," Garland said. "We want to win hockey games. We want to win a national championship, but one guy on our team says, 'Life's long, but eternity's longer,' and that's the most important aspect of our hockey team. So we're just trying to spread the love of Christ through the sport of hockey."
