The Chargers will be wearing camo jerseys this weekend against Alaska-Anchorage.

The Chargers will honor America’s military by wearing camouflage-style jerseys in both games against Alaska-Anchorage on Friday and Saturday.

The jerseys will be auctioned off Saturday night, and can be bid upon during both games. The initial starting bid will be $100 for each (some may go down on Saturday if they don’t have bids), and the proceeds benefit the UAH hockey program.

All veterans and active military can get free admission to both games, which start at 7:07 p.m. each night.

On Saturday, the first 500 kids 12 and under will receive a kids-size UAH camo hockey jersey, sponsored by SportsMed, Wells Fargo, Torch Technologies, and Jerry Damson Honda/Acura. As with all home games the rest of the season, kids 12 and under get free admission, courtesy of Huntsville International Airport.

On Friday, the first 500 fans receive a set of UAH hockey trading cards.

Cross has critical fall: Longtime UAH equipment manager Robert Cross fell in his home recently and awoke a quadriplegic when he found himself in an Atlanta hospital.  Friends of the program will remember Crosser as the guy who kept the team going at home and on the road until his job situation changed.

If you’d like to help Robert, you can make a donation.

Coaches’ luncheon: The sixth coaches’ luncheon of the season is Friday at noon in the Varsity Room at Spragins Hall. Alaska-Anchorage coach Matt Thomas (not to be confused with UAH assistant Matty Thomas) will be the guest speaker. Thomas has the Seawolves at a 11-9-2 record in his first year at the helm, already well surpassing UAA’s four wins last season. UAH coach Mike Corbett will follow.

Terranova’s will be catering the luncheon, which is $8 at the door and free for Blue Line Club members. 

Salhany’s goal among top plays: Matt Salhany’s goal in Friday’s game at Notre Dame was good enough to make the WCHA Plays of the Week. Check the video below (Salhany’s goal is at the 1:15 mark).

Around the WCHA: Ferris State remained undefeated in league play with a win with a sweep of Michigan Tech at home, where C.J. Motte was the star with a 25-save shutout (1-0) on Friday and a 44-save performance on Saturday (3-2). The Bulldogs, now ranked second in this week’s USCHO.com poll, is 12-0-2 in league play with 26 points.

Climbing into second place is Bowling Green, which notched a win and a tie at home against Alaska. The Falcons got another shutout from Tommy Burke on Friday, his second in three games and third for the season.

The Seawolves took care of business after their crazy odyssey getting home last week and rose to fifth in the standings, while the Mavericks finished a two-week stay in Alaska losing three of four and dropping to third. Meanwhile, Bemidji State’s sweep at Lake Superior propelled the Beavers into fourth.

The big WCHA showdown this week is in Mankato, where Minnesota State, the WCHA pre-season favorite, hosts Ferris State.

THIS WEEK IN THE WCHA
All times Central.
* WCHA game.

Friday, January 17
* Alaska-Anchorage at UAH, 7:07 p.m.
* Alaska at Northern Michigan, 6:07 p.m.
* Ferris State at Minnesota State, 7:37 p.m.
Lake Superior at Notre Dame, 7:05 p.m.
North Dakota at Bemidji State, 7:37 p.m.

Saturday, January 18
* Alaska-Anchorage at UAH, 7:07 p.m.
* Alaska at Northern Michigan, 6:07 p.m.
* Ferris State at Minnesota State, 7:07 p.m.
Lake Superior at Notre Dame, 6:05 p.m.
Bemidji State at North Dakota, 7:07 p.m.

NBCSN will broadcast Friday’s game at Notre Dame.

Friday’s game at Notre Dame will be televised by NBC Sports Network (6:30 p.m.). It will be the third time the Charger hockey will be featured on national television.

You may be wondering how UAH got on national TV. NBC Sports has been the home of Notre Dame home football games, and in recent years the partnership has grown to include Fighting Irish hockey (and some Hockey East) games on NBC’s cable and online channels. Friday’s game was scheduled to go on NBCSN before the start of the season.

You may also be wondering when UAH has been this visible on television. Both NCAA Division I Tournament appearances (the 3-2 double-overtime loss to Notre Dame in 2007 and the 2-1 loss to Miami in 2010) were on ESPNU. The College Hockey America championship game victories that led to these berths were on CSTV (2007), which eventually became CBS Sports Network (2010).

What about the series at Wisconsin two weeks ago, which was shown on Fox College Sports Pacific and Central? It depends if you want to call those networks “national.” Although you could have watched the games in Huntsville with the proper cable or satellite sports package, those games were a relay of Fox Sports Wisconsin, a regional network. This was also the case when UAH went to Wisconsin early in the 2010-11 season.

We believe the only other times the Chargers were on TVs in Huntsville was when they were broadcast on WAAY-TV Channel 31 in the 1990s. The 1994, 1996, and 1998 NCAA Division II championships, along with a couple of regular-season games in 1996-97, were on WAAY.

Other UAH sports that have been on national TV are men’s basketball, which was on ESPN2 during the 2012 NIT tip-off against Kansas State, and softball, which was on CBS Sports Network for the 2009 and 2011 NCAA Division II championship games.

Talbot update: New York Rangers goaltender Cam Talbot now has 14 games and 12 starts under his belt, and the former Charger netminder continues to play well. Talbot has a 9-3 record with a 1.66 goals against average and .938 save percentage. On Saturday, he stopped 25 of 26 shots as the Rangers rolled at Toronto 7-1.

Around the WCHA: It’s been cold.

WCHA temps (in deg. F): BGSU 4, BSU -27, FSU 7, LSSU 1, MSU -20, MTU -10, NMU -11, UAA 31, UAF 9, UAH 14. Yes, Anchorage is warmest.

— Charger Hockey Journal (@ChargerHockeyJn) January 6, 2014

Alaska-Anchorage could surely enjoy the relative warmth of home, whenever they finally get there. After a surprising split at No. 13 Wisconsin — ending the Badgers’ 10-game home winning streak — the Seawolves won’t get back to Anchorage until Thursday, thanks to the cold and snow in the Midwest causing canceled flights and missed connections.

When they do get home, they’ll host Minnesota State, which has been in Alaska for a week, splitting a series with the Nanooks in Fairbanks. The Mavericks are two points behind Ferris State, which beat RPI but was shutout by Colgate in the Mariucci Classic.

The Bulldogs, still undefeated in WCHA play at 10-0-2, dropped a spot to No. 3 in this week’s USCHO.com poll. Lake Superior is the only other league team ranked at No. 19, with Minnesota State and Bowling Green receiving votes.

In other action, Michigan Tech split its series at Lake Superior State, and Northern Michigan went into Bemidji and swept the Beavers. The league has created a “Plays of the Week” video this week.

Also, Bowling Green defenseman Ralfs Freibergs will represent Latvia at the Olympic Games next month in Sochi, Russia.

THIS WEEK IN THE WCHA
All times Central.
* WCHA game.

Friday, January 10
UAH at Notre Dame, 6:35 p.m. (NBC Sports Network)
* Alaska at Bowling Green, 6:07 p.m.
* Michigan Tech at Ferris State, 6:07 p.m.
* Bemidji State at Lake Superior, 6:37 p.m.
* Minnesota State at Alaska-Anchorage, 10:07 p.m.

Saturday, January 11
UAH at Notre Dame, 6:05 p.m. (NBC Sports Live Extra)
* Alaska at Bowling Green, 6:07 p.m.
* Michigan Tech at Ferris State, 6:07 p.m.
* Bemidji State at Lake Superior, 6:07 p.m.
* Minnesota State at Alaska-Anchorage, 10:07 p.m.

It wasn’t the one-goal game we’re used to on Saturday, as the Chargers fell to Bowling Green 4-1 at the Von Braun Center.

For what it’s worth, it was an improvement over Friday’s disappointing 7-0 loss. Despite playing with more energy on the offensive end, the Falcons simply capitalized on their chances while the Chargers did not. UAH outshot BG 27-26 for the game, the first time the Chargers had more shots on goal against a Division I opponent since Dec. 31, 2011 (a 4-3 loss to Mercyhurst).

Bowling Green didn’t waste time taking the lead. Adam Berkle redirected Mike Sullivan’s blast through traffic and past UAH goaltender Carmine Guerriero just 21 seconds into the contest.

The Falcons, using a similar plan as Friday night, fired away, getting seven of the first eight shots on goal. In the latter half of the first, however, UAH started to close the shooting lanes, and the Chargers were able to get some chances of their own.

BG netminder Tommy Burke, who got the shutout in game one, made the saves to keep it a 1-0 score after one period.

UAH had a better second period, but still saw its deficit grow. The Chargers had two overlapping power plays to start the period, but after they expired, Brent Tate wrists a shot from the top of the slot to give Bowling Green a 2-0 lead at the 3:58 mark.

With 10:53 left, Dan DeSalvo found a loss puck off of Guerriero and knocks it in to make it 3-0. Rusty Hafner made it 4-0 three minutes later.

The Chargers finally got on the board with 3:50 left in the second. Stephen McKenna earned his second goal of the season when he directed a Steve Koshey shot past Burke. Craig Pierce got the second assist.

Despite outshooting the Falcons 10-6 for the second period, BG outscored UAH 3-1. UAH continued to provide offensive pressure in the third period with a 11-9 shots on goal advantage, but none would find the net.

The Chargers next travel to Notre Dame for a two-game series next Friday and Saturday. The next home series is Jan. 16-17 against Alaska-Anchorage for Military Appreciation Weekend.