Author Archives: Geof F. Morris

Chris Luongo Out As Head Coach; Kurt Kleinendorst New Head Coach

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Here’s the press release:

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Kurt Kleinendorst, a former assistant coach in the National Hockey League, has been named head coach of the men’s ice hockey team at The University of Alabama in Huntsville following the resignation of the Chargers’ current head coach Chris Luongo.

Kleinendorst served as an assistant coach and scout for the New Jersey Devils for nine years, and most recently was the head coach of the Binghamton Senators in the American Hockey League where he led that team to a conference championship in 2011. He also coached the Under-18 USA Hockey National Team to a gold medal in the world hockey championship in 2010.

“We believe Kurt Kleinendorst’s experience coaching at the highest levels of the National Team Development Program and professional ice hockey, and the discipline he will bring to the program on and off the ice, will create an environment that will allow us to enhance our status in Division I hockey as he takes over the reins as head coach,” said Athletic Director E.J. Brophy. “Our program is at a critical juncture in its history, and our best opportunity to maintain our tradition of competitive ice hockey lies with Kurt Kleinendorst.”

Kleinendorst played ice hockey for Providence College for four years, where he was an All-American and a Hobey Baker finalist. He was selected in the fourth round (77th overall) of the 1980 NHL entry draft by the New York Rangers. He was a member of the Tulsa Oilers team in the Central Hockey League, and played minor league hockey in Germany, Finland and the Netherlands through 1990.

He joined New Jersey in the National Hockey League as an assistant coach and scout, serving for nine years with the Devils organization. In that role, he helped the Devils win the 2000 Stanley Cup championship. Kleinendorst also coached the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Lowell Devils, from 2006 to 2009.

“During my 30-plus year association with Kurt Kleinendorst, I have been fortunate to watch him develop as a student-athlete, player, scout and coach at various levels,” said New Jersey Devils President/CEO/General Manager Lou Lamoriello. “There is no question in my mind that Kurt will be a decided asset to the University of Alabama-Huntsville hockey team both on and off the ice, and help UAH in their pursuit of a major Division I hockey conference affiliation.”

The Ottawa Senators signed him to a two-year contract in 2010 as head coach for their AHL affiliate Binghamton Senators. Also, Kleinendorst’s brother Scott played in the NHL.

Kurt and his wife, Deon, have four children: Ryan, Kollin, Kaitlyn and Jake.

I have a lot of thoughts about this, and I’m hoping to put them together for you this week. I got an email from Lou at 4:22 p.m. yesterday; by 5:00 p.m., this press release was public.

This is a huge change on a number of levels. I encourage all of you to—no matter your feelings on this matter—continue to support the program. You don’t hire Kurt Kleinendorst with the idea that you’ll drop to club hockey. No matter what this move may be internally, externally it is a huge “we are committed” to the WCHA. That cannot be stressed enough. If you want to see UAH continue on as a varsity program, Kurt Kleinendorst is your head coach, and we must ride with him.

More later after things settle down a bit.

Happy 30th Birthday, Jared Ross!

Jared Ross is perhaps the best-known Charger of all time. Ross highlighted the 2001-10 UAHHockey.com All-Decade Team, and with good reason: 72 goals and 86 assists for 158 points in 133 games played in the #7 jersey. Jared has since played in the UHL, ECHL, AHL, and NHL; he scored his lone NHL goal for the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs. Jared now plays for ERC Ingolstadt in the DEL; last season, he went 23-29—52 for second in team scoring and fourth overall in the league. After this season, he will be a free agent. Happy birthday, Jared!

Happy 31st Birthday, Luke Flaig!

Luke Flaig came to Huntsville from Eden Prairie, MN, via the Chicago Steel and Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL. Flaig was scoreless in ten games before leaving UAH for greener pastures. Happy birthday, Luke!

2012 UAH Hockey Auction Items

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This year, we’ve got an advanced look at what will be available in the silent and live auctions. I thought you’d want to know what’s available (listings may change between now and Friday):

Silent Auction Items

NHL Memorabilia

  • Steven Stamkos Tampa Bay Lightning Signed Jersey
    Value: $180 – Starting Bid: $130 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Patrick Marleau San Jose Sharks Signed Jersey
    Value: $175 – Starting Bid: $125 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Brett Hull Dallas Stars jersey
    Value: $50 – Starting Bid: $40 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Zdeno Chara Signed Photo & Puck
    Value: $25 – Starting Bid: $20 – Bid Increment: $5
  • Andrew Ference signed Photo & Puck
    Value: $15 – Starting Bid: $10 – Bid Increment: $5
  • Framed NHL Team Goalie Mask Picture
    Value: $10 – Starting Bid: $10 – Bid Increment: $5
  • St. Louis Blues Player Cards 1990-91, signed by Brett Hull
    Value: $10 – Starting Bid: $10 – Bid Increment: $5

Huntsville Experiences

  • University Fitness Center 1-year membership
    Value: $650 – Starting Bid: $350 – Bid Increment: $25
  • The Ledges Country Club 4 rounds of Golf + Lunch
    Value: $400 – Starting Bid: $300 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Burning Tree Country Club 4 rounds of golf
    Value: $225 – Starting Bid: $150 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Bruegger’s Bagel Shop 2012 Bottomless Beverage Mug
    Value: $130 – Starting Bid: $65 – Bid Increment: $5
  • Dreamland Bar-B-Q – 4 Slabs of Ribs
    Value: $80 – Starting Bid: $50 – Bid Increment: $5
  • Nick Saban signed University of Alabama Football Cap
    Value: $75 – Starting Bid: $50 – Bid Increment: $5
  • Hooters – 50 Free wings
    Value: $35 – Starting Bid: $20 – Bid Increment: $5

UAH Memorabilia / Experiences

  • Mac Roy game-worn road blue #12 jersey
    Value: $120 – Starting Bid: $80 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Justin Cseter game-worn home white #26 jersey
    Value: $120 – Starting Bid: $80 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Sebastian Geoffrion game-worn home white #22 jersey
    Value: $120 – Starting Bid: $80 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Warrior hockey stick
    Value: $200 – Starting Bid: $100 – Bid Increment: $5
  • Bench Assistant for one game next season (must be 10 or older)
    Value: $30 – Starting Bid: $30 – Bid Increment: $5

Live Auction

  • UAH Hockey package: Ice Suite, Catered food (hot dogs, popcorn, pop), game program, 10 Chuck-a-Pucks, free parking
    Value: $200 – Starting Bid: $130 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Two (2) Alabama Football tickets for a game in the 2012 season, courtesy of Dr. Altenkirch
    Value: $100 – Starting Bid: $100 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Clarke Saunders game-worn home white #33 jersey
    Value: $100 – Starting Bid: $100 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Tom Durnie game-worn road blue #24 jersey
    Value: $100 – Starting Bid: $100 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Curtis deBruyn game-worn home white #23 jersey
    Value: $100 – Starting Bid: $100 – Bid Increment: $10

Player Auction
Have dinner with your favorite Charger player!

  • Sebastian & Brice Geoffrion – Starting Bid: $100 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Clarke Saunders – Starting Bid: $100 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Craig Pierce & Kyle Lysaght – Starting Bid: $100 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Curtis deBruyn – Starting Bid: $100 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Jamie Easton – Starting Bid: $100 – Bid Increment: $10
  • Tom Durnie – Starting Bid: $100 – Bid Increment: $10

2012 Hockey Banquet

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Coach Luongo wanted us to pass this along:

Dear Charger Faithful,

The UAH Hockey Awards Banquet will be upon this Friday, April 20th at 6 pm at the University Center on the UAH campus, and we want you to be there! If you have not responded and you wish to attend, please do so ASAP. You can send notice of your joining us to Chris.Luongo@uah.edu. You can pay the $25 that night by credit card or check. We need to have some final numbers for food orders so please respond Tuesday, April 17th . UAH President Dr. Robert Altenkirch will be joining us and will be giving us the latest status on UAH Hockey and league membership. It will be a special event for our fans and our Student-Athletes. I look forward to seeing you there.

Sincerely,

Chris Luongo

I’ll be there. I hope to see you there!

Letter from Lou

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Dear Chargers,

I hope that is all is well and that you were able to celebrate Easter with loved ones.

It is an interesting and busy time for Charger Hockey. Our Student-Athletes are busy in the classroom and are working extremely hard in the weight room and outside with the spring conditioning portion of the year. It is a unique time for them as hockey players. It is not very often that a hockey player gets the chance to work out in the off season as a team. Once they leave for home for the summer, they go to the facility of their choice to execute the workout program we supply but they will not have but maybe one or 2 teammates, depending on where they live, to workout with. Being together in the spring gives them a chance to push each other to new heights in the weight room just as they do when they are on the ice together. It makes for memorable group dynamics. One that we as coaches miss from our playing days.

Gavin Morgan, Tim Flynn, and I just returned from the Frozen Four in Tampa. President Altenkirch and AD Brophy were present in Tampa as well. Much of our time was spent communicating our intention of finding conference affiliation. Dr Brophy and I had set an agenda of people we wanted to visit with prior to our departure and I am happy to report that we spoke with every one of them and then some. Dr Altenkirch spoke the higher ups from potential league members as well. It showed the commitment of UAH to Charger Hockey having not only our Director of Athletics present but also our President. The feedback we received was very promising. There are conferences in need of additional members and we have made it extremely clear that we are the solution to their problem. The timeline to knowing our status should be at some point by midsummer. This is a great development for “Charger Nation”. As optimistic as I was prior to our time in Tampa, and I was quite optimistic, I am even more optimistic now that we are on our way to solving the conference issue. Sports Information Director, Taylor Flatt, was the only UAH representative that was truly “working” for the tournament. He had responsibilities working stats for the games and assisting the media portion of the event getting participants where they needed to be in order to do interviews and things of that nature. We thank him for his efforts.

The event itself was outstanding. We received numerous comments regarding the UAH logo that was on the ice, on the boards and on many signs around the city of Tampa. The advertising effect for UAH and our Hockey Program was substantial. I hope that you were able to see the games. The final was great as Ferris State, a Division II athletic program with a Division I hockey program, gave the “big dog” Boston College a great game.

Our annual Hockey Awards banquet is coming up on April 20th here on the UAH campus at the University Center. I hope all of you will be able to join us. It is another hallmark event, especially for our seniors Jamie Easton and Tom Durnie. They are truly outstanding young men that we are proud to send out into the world with University of Alabama in Huntsville Hockey on their resume.

Thank you so much for your support through these difficult times. I look forward to celebrating with all of you some great accomplishments for UAH Hockey on and off the ice in the future.

Take care,

Chris Luongo

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Jared Ross on ERC Ingolstadt, DEL Playoffs

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ERC Ingolstadt's Jared Ross moves into the slot for a shot. (Credit: schaudichan on Flickr)

Jared Ross (’05) has finished his first season in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). His ERC Ingolstadt team finished second in the DEL table and was powered by the scoring of their “Big Three”: German national and DEL veteran RW Thomas Greilinger (22-32=54, +9), Ontario native and RIT alumnus C Derek Hahn (21-32=53, +26), and Ross (23-29=52, +4). The troika were second, third, and fourth in DEL scoring for 2011-12. We got in touch with Jared after Ingolstadt’s first round win against DEG Metro Stars to find out what his thoughts were about playing abroad, our situation here in Huntsville, and the joys of the language barrier.

How would you compare the DEL to your last league, the AHL? Is the pace different? Hitting?

The pace is very similar. The difference is that because the ice is larger; you have a little more time to make plays. In the US it is more of a dump-and-chase style game, whereas in Europe players will refrain from dumping the puck in because they have more room to make plays. Because of this, there are not as many big hits, though physical play is stressed here.

How has your role changed with the new team than what roles you played in the States?

My role is very similar. I have always been a player that plays against other teams’ top lines where the coaches expect me to shut them down—as well as getting offensive production. So I believe that hasn’t changed. However, I do think I have a little more freedom here when trying to make plays.

What have been the big adjustments for you to make other than the language barrier?

It was pretty easy to adjust. The language was a big problem, but I would have to say another adjustment would be the environment at the games. Like European soccer, the games are very loud. The fans never stop their chants, especially on the road. It’s harder playing on the road here then in the States. Other adjustments that were difficult would be food choices and watching out for bicyclists and pedestrians when driving. They are everywhere, and it seems like they are trying to get you to hit them.

How much time off-ice have you had to put into learning the language in order to fit in?

Our management has offered the players German classes once a week. I don’t think this was enough to learn the language, but it has definitely helped. I probably should have done a little on my own trying to learn German, but to be honest I have not.

What kind of team was Metro Stars? Y’all beat them 4-1 with a blowout win in there, so was there a definite skill advantage on ERC Ingolstadt’s part?

They were a very fast team with two solid lines. The series was actually much closer then it sounds: one OT game, a game we won in the last two minutes, and another in which we had to come back from 2-0 in the second and third period. I was relieved when it was over, because it could have gone seven games.

Ingolstadt lost their first game in the second round of the playoffs, falling 4-1 to Adler Mannheim. Jared was even in the game.

And one more thing: we mentioned Ingolstadt’s “Big Three”. Want to see them talking hockey? Of course you do.

It’s over.

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All faculty, staff, and students received this memo just now.

M E M O R A N D U M

TO: UAHuntsville Community

FROM: Malcolm Portera, President

RE: UAHuntsville Ice Hockey Program

DATE: October 24, 2011

I want to share with you a decision that has been made following months of careful study. As a result of a financial analysis of our athletic program, and numerous conversations I have had with athletic directors, university presidents and commissioners of Division I ice hockey programs, it has become obvious that, for the best interest of this university, our athletic department and the ice hockey program, we move the team from the Division I level back to its original classification as a club sport at the end of the 2011-2012 season.

In this economic environment universities must examine the value of every dollar we spend, and we must view every option to use those funds for the betterment of the entire campus. The cost savings from this move will allow the university to enhance the operating budgets of the other 15 sports on campus, provide more student aid to a greater number of student-athletes, and, at the same time, enable us to increase our investment in high-demand academic programs to better position UAHuntsville for future growth.

I met with the players and coaches this morning to pledge the university’s full assistance to the student-athletes participating in our ice hockey program. We will continue to honor the scholarship commitment made to these students, and if a student-athlete chooses to transfer to another program, we will provide help in making that relocation as seamless as possible. Coaches will remain on our staff through May 31, 2012, and the university will assist them in their endeavors to seek future employment.

Charger ice hockey will very much remain a part of the culture of this university and the community. However, the opportunity to save the hockey program is much improved by reverting to a club team status. We appreciate the understanding of the campus, the university’s athletic supporters and the community, and we look forward to a robust hockey presence in the years to come.

My affiliation with UAH Hockey ends as of the end of the final game on Saturday, February 25th. Expect little to no coverage here, on Facebook, or on Twitter in the interim. [If you want to cover the maybe-happening-but-probably-not club team using this domain, get in touch.] Like most Charger fans, my focus right now is on spending the time that we have left with our coaches and student-athletes. Charger hockey fans are community members, alumni, and current students. In some sense we “root for laundry”, but that always stops the moment you take the time to shake hands and talk for just a little bit.

The school has done these men a disservice in cannibalizing the Division 1 hockey program to support our Division 2 sports, but it is their place to do so and we cannot stop them. I know most of the coaches of the remaining programs and wish their student-athletes continued success. My opinion as both an alumnus and current student was that the university should increase investment in all of our athletics programs. I sincerely hope that no other sports are put on the chopping block. I firmly believe that intercollegiate athletics serves two great purposes: educating student-athletes and building a sense of community within and outside the school. UAH needs that community as much as any school I know, and today is a loss for the UAH community.