Author Archives: Geof F. Morris

2010-10-07 Postgame Interview and Geof’s Thoughts

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Here are Coach Luongo’s postgame thoughts from last night:

[audio:http://uahhockey.com/wp-content/audio/20101007-postgame.mp3]

My thoughts:

  1. The team played about as I expected them to play: still feeling their game out as a team. You wouldn’t expect a team this young and with this much turnover to play a ton better against a team that already had a game under their belt and had more experience on the ice. I liked the effort that I saw, but there was a bit of individualism at times in the third as guys tried to do too much to get the team back into the game after falling behind. A young team is going to do that.
  2. Sebastian’s major/misconduct was a confluence of a couple factors: the player being turned the wrong way when the hit was made, the player being far shorter, and the emphasis on contact-to-the-head penalties in the NCAA this year. There’s no doubt that he deserved the penalty, but a half-second later and it’s just a good, clean hit.
  3. Speaking of the Geoffrion brothers, Brice caught my eye a number of times.
  4. I was pleased with what I saw from the defensemen last night. Having Burkholder and Baxter out there to lock down teams’ top lines promises to be effective this year. Talking to them both post-game, they were pretty frustrated with how the game came out, which you’d expect. I’m quite sure that they’re going to be pretty vocal in the locker room before and during the game today.
  5. Speaking of defensemen, Nick Gatt really impressed me. I could tell that he had some skills from what I saw in practice, but in game situations, he had the right moves and positioned himself well. He passes well and doesn’t wait too long to make the pass. I like the deBruyn-Gatt pairing, but who knows if we’ll see it stay together once Uusivirta is eligible.
  6. I didn’t know what to expect out of an Easton-Ruffini-Fairbanks line, but it was fun to watch. All three of them feed off of the others’ energy, and Easty was sticking his nose in there and digging pucks out like a player with another six inches and 40 pounds. If they stay together and get some more game experience, that could turn into a good scoring line.
  7. Mac Roy and Alex Allan are this year’s Cseter and Desmet. Putting them out there with Bruni is a good call, because Vince has a good shot and will also bang bodies and protect the young guys.
  8. Clarke Saunders was solid and made a number of good saves. There were a few rebounds that scared me, and he came out of the net a bit much for my taste, but he looked very good for a first-game netminder.

I would expect David Way to get swapped into the lineup tonight, but I’m not sure who he’ll replace. I’m not sure who will be in net, but I wouldn’t be surprised for it to be Saunders again.

October 7th Lineups

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Here are tonight’s lineups:

Jamie Easton – Neil Ruffini – Chris Fairbanks
Sebastian Geoffrion – Justin Cseter – Keenan Desmet
Mac Roy – Alex Allan – Vince Bruni
Brice Geoffrion – Cody Dion – Joe Koudys

Matt Baxter – Ryan Burkholder
Nickolas Gatt – Curtis deBruyn
Mat Hagen – Tom Durnie

Clarke Saunders
CJ Groh
Johnny Griggs

Starters have not been announced.

Gameday Interview: Ferris State

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We’re going to try to do this for every home game, and hopefully some away games if we can work out the technology. Here’s UAHHockey.com’s gameday interview with the UAH Hockey coaching staff:

[audio:http://uahhockey.com/wp-content/audio/20101007-coaches-pregame.mp3]

Some brief notes from the coaches’ luncheon:

  1. Clarke Saunders will start tonight’s game.
  2. Cody Campbell is ineligible to play due to his NCAA eligibility clock having expired. Campbell attended British Columbia Institute of Technology for one full-time term in 2005, which started his NCAA eligibility clock. Campbell was playing junior B hockey at the time, and he worked, played hockey, and took classes all at once. This proved to be a hefty load, so he stopped going to school full-time after the one term. The next season, he got some ice time with Burnaby Express in the BCHL, and it was 2007-08 before Dennis Williams made initial contacts that ended up bringing him to Huntsville. As Campbell was not a true degree-seeking student and only attended one full-time term, UAH is hopeful that the NCAA will do right by him and reset his eligibility clock. As of now, Campbell is ineligible but is still working hard in classes and on his conditioning with the hopes that the NCAA will overturn its ruling.
  3. Lasse Uusivirta is ineligible for this weekend because the NCAA clearinghouse is not fully satisfied with his secondary school transcripts from Finland. The main issues are in translation and that Finnish secondary transcripts do not delineate when students take which courses, which is a standard practice in the US. Uusivirta’s family is working with his secondary school and UAH to satisfy the clearinghouse’s concerns, and everyone is hopeful that Lasse will be eligible to play next week.

There is no official word yet as to who will play and who will sit tonight. When we have that information, we will pass it along. You will also want to follow UAH Hockey on Twitter for pre-game, in-game, and post-game commentary from us. As soon as we have a line chart, we will put that information out to the public.

How to follow the game tonight if you’re not in Huntsville: Ferris State will have their audio feed from their radio broadcast [Real Audio Player required], and there is always the pay-per-view video option for 22 UAH Hockey broadcasts in 2010-11. Steve Moulton typically provides play-by-play for the B2 feed, but he will be out for Friday night and you will be stuck with my terrible p-b-p skills then. Also, there’s always UAH Hockey live stats.

Hope to see you at the rink, but if not, please keep in touch with us here at UAHHockey.com.

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Your 2010-11 Chargers: The Defensemen

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Having looked at the goalies, let’s turn our eyes to the young men who help keep pucks away from them in the first place: the defensemen.

Photo credit: Will Nickelson

The Chargers are led by their gritty captain, Ryan Burkholder. As we noted in our rundown of the captains for 2010-11, Ryan has just two assists in three years in the blue and white. What “Burky” may lack in offensive production, he more than makes up for in defensive ability and character. Like Scott Kalinchuk before him, Ryan is a quiet leader of his team, taking players aside to reinforce the coaches’ instructions during practice. I watched the Chargers practice this morning, and one thing that struck me is that Ryan was totally locked in during any instruction from Coach Luongo. His attention didn’t waver a whit, and that focus is definitely shown by his play on the ice. Ryan is also a good student, with a GPA in excess of 3.0, which is no small feat at UAH.

Photo credit: Nick Franklin

Matt Baxter brings a wealth of experience to the ice, serving as one of the team’s alternate captains for this season, his final one in a Charger uniform. Known to his teammates and coaches as “Jim”, Baxter combines size, skating ability, and a strong left-handed slapshot to provide the Chargers with solid blueline play as well as sparking the offense. What I always notice about Jim is that he keeps working. Baxter will be leaned on for his leadership on and off the ice this season, as the Chargers graduated Dave Nicoletti, Brennan Barker, and Brandon Roshko from last year’s defensive corps. As previously noted, Baxter is an excellent student, with a 3.5+ GPA while majoring in psychology and sociology.

Photo credit: Will Nickelson

Tom Durnie has battled to get in the lineup his first two seasons, playing just 38 games in that span. “Durns” will be called upon to step up this season with half of the defensive corps being freshmen. The keys for Durnie are to play within himself and to utilize his reach effectively to disrupt the opposing offense’s flow down low. Tom has all the tools and needs to play consistently; I feel that he will make huge strides this season.

Photo credit: Geof Morris

Curtis deBruyn was a great addition to the Charger defensive corps in 2009-10, playing 32 games and scoring a goal and six assists. deBruyn plays within himself and does the smart thing, which you can see in the box score as he’s taken just 14 PIM in his college career. Despite playing for a 2009-10 team that had a -16 goal differential, deBruyn finished -2 for the season. Selected by his teammates as an alternate captain for this year, what I’ve noticed in watching practice for the last week is that deBruyn is a vocal leader on the ice.

Photo credit: Geof Morris

Lasse Uusivirta is the second Finnish player in as many seasons to come to play his college hockey in Huntsville. Uusivirta means “new stream”, and he promises to bring a scoring touch from the blueline. In 118 games for the Espoo Jr. Blues U20 team, Lasse was 36-41–77 and captained his team last season. Having watched him in practice, I expect Lasse to log plenty of minutes this season, including time on the power play. He seems to have a deft scoring touch from the outside, and I feel like he has a good feel for the game. There are always concerns about how a player will adjust to the speed of the college game, and freshmen will, of course, make freshman mistakes. My gut feeling, though, is that Lasse will be just as important to the team as deBruyn was last season. For the record, you pronounce it “Oo-see-VEER-tuh”—or at least that’s how I’ve heard it from teammates.

Photo credit: pointstreak.com

Mat Hagen is the smallest of the Chargers’ freshman defensemen, listed at 6’0″, 185. From what I’ve seen in practice, Hagen is a good skater with decent hands. He seems to be a bit slow at times to move the puck offensively across the blue line, which will certainly bite him in the college game, but he seems coachable and should learn quickly what he needs to do to be successful at this level. In 62 games played for the Kanata Stallions in 2009-10, Hagen scored three goals and 28 assists, which bodes well for him to be an offensive contributor for the Chargers going forward.

Photo credit: pointstreak.com

Nickolas Gatt comes to Huntsville from the Topeka Roadrunners of the North American Hockey League, where he scored two goals and 14 assists in 54 games. More importantly, Gatt finished +18 on the season, which indicates that he should be a solid addition for the Chargers defense. Listed at 6’3″, looks like he will fill out from his current 195-lb frame as his college career continues. Gatt has made strides in the week of practices I’ve watched, and I expect that he’ll be in the mix for a spot on the Chargers’ third pair.

Trevor Conrad is a big, bruising defenseman, 6’0″-215. He first caught my eye in practice by absolutely creaming Sebastian Geoffrion in the corner. Conrad looks to fill the role of the punishing defender, but he is working on his overall game in practice. As with Hagen and Gatt, Conrad promises to be in the mix defensively this season. All three will get on the ice based on their work in practice, and I’ve seen all of them give a good effort. Oh, and for the hockey fight fans amongst you, Conrad is the man in black …

[Ed.: I had Mat Hagen’s height wrong, and also had his incorrect junior team listed for 2009-10. I regret the error. –GFM]

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Your 2010-11 Chargers: The Goalies

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Unless you’ve been under a rock, you know that Cam Talbot is now playing professionally, having given up his final season of eligibility. This comes as no surprise to anyone around the program. Talbie, thanks for three great years. We will be watching your professional development. Blake MacNicol’s eligibility is up.

Where does that leave the Charger netminding staff? Here’s your answer:

The Incumbent

#31 Johnny Griggs

Photo credit: Doug Eagan

Johnny Griggs may not have seen any game time on the ice for the Chargers in 2009-10, but he does have a year of coaching under his belt, knows the defense that will be in front of him, and knows what the coaching staff expects of him. Also, it’s not like he was a slouch of a goalie in juniors: Johnny was third in Goals-Against Average in the Central Junior Hockey League (ON) in 2008-09, with an .898 save percentage. While Johnny is listed as a product of the Cumberland Grads, a check of his player card indicates that he was playing for the league’s power, the Pembroke Lumber Kings. When I look at the 2008-09 stats for the Lumber Kings, I see that Johnny was the better goalie in their season-starting tandem: 15-4-1, 5 SO, 2.09GAA, .913SV%. There’s obviously a difficulty adjustment between Junior A and NCAA Division I—just go look at Talbie’s stats as a freshman—but I think Johnny has the capacity to be a solid goaltender for the Chargers next year.

The New Guys

#32 CJ Groh

Photo credit: Geof F. Morris

CJ Groh committed to UAH on Tax Day in 2009 for this upcoming season. A ’90 goalie from Cincinnati, Ohio, CJ bounced around a little bit in juniors this year. CJ signed while being with the NAHL’s Springfield Jr Blues, where he had excellent statistics: 6W-6L-4OTL, 1 SO, 2.66 GAA, .918 SV% this year, 15W-15L-3OTL, 4SO, 2.62 GAA, .917 SV% in 2008-09. In the 2009 NAHL playoffs, he did yeoman’s work in keeping his team in games: 1-3, 2.09 GAA, .947 SV%. That’s all you can ask of a kid, right?

Now, it’s easy to look at his 2009-10 stats with the USHL’s Waterloo Blackhawks—3W-5L-2OTL, 1 SO, 4.14GAA, .876 SV%—and go, “Oi … he took a step back at a higher level of competition.” But a scout sent us the following, from a much longer email that was quite effusive in its praise of CJ:

In Waterloo, if you take out his first and last games then his stats were pretty good, better then 5 or 6 #1s on other teams. His first game within 24 hours of him being traded up to Waterloo – arrived in Waterloo midnight on Thursday, boarded bus next morning at 8am and played that night without benefit of any practices. Last game came vs. a very hot USA U18 team that simply blasted Waterloo (both goalies allowed 5 goals in half game played). Waterloo had opportunity to pick up a young (92) goalie at the trade deadline so CJ was the odd man out – not as much because of performance but they knew he was going to school in the fall and they had a chance to get a kid for next year as well. But they purposely sent him to St Louis (and not back to Springfield) because they knew St Louis has legitimate shot at Tier II National title (3 time defending champs) and they have a goalie coach who would work them daily – something not even Waterloo could offer. His numbers since joining St. Louis have been very good.

So, let’s look at his body of work as a starting goalie in Waterloo: blown out in his debut [where it seemed that there were extenuating circumstances], an overtime loss where he saved 41-of-45, an overtime win where he stopped 31-of-34, an overtime loss where he stopped 31-of-35, two straight wins, including a shutout, and two losses where his team scored one goal for him. I look at that body of work and think, “That’s really no different than anything we saw Cam or Blake struggle with in 2007-08 or 2008-09.” Then, yes, CJ got traded back to the NAHL, this time to the St. Louis Bandits. CJ’s stats in St. Louis were excellent: 5W-1L-1OTL, 1 SO, 1.98 GAA, .910 SV%.

So don’t look at those Waterloo stats and freak out.

#33 Clarke Saunders

Photo credit: Doug Eagan

Clarke will play at University of Alabama – Huntsville

Third year Goaltender Clarke Saunders has accepted a NCAA DIV I athletic scholarship to the University Of Alabama- Huntsville located in Huntsville Alabama.

Clarke is a native of Brockville Ontario, he has been the Braves starter for three seasons, compiling a number of Individual records as well as backstopping a majority of the Braves League record 26 game winning streak. Saunders holds the Braves Career Records for Most Wins – 81, Lowest Goals Against Average – 2.71 Best Save % – .915 and single season Records for Most Wins – 31(09-10), also 2nd most wins – 29 (07-08), Lowest GAA – 2.31, Best Save % – .900 and is tied for Most Shutouts – 3.

After playing a large part in the Braves record breaking season and competing in the Fred Page Cup Eastern Canadian Championships, Clarke will join the Huntsville Chargers in the fall.

Clarke committed to UAH in April. He’s not the first Brockville Brave to don the Blue and White: he’s third behind Jason Hawes and Brennan Barker, who finished his junior career with the Penticton Vees. Sadly, not long after he committed, he hurt his knee:

In practice on Monday, Saunders just fell to the ice in trying to make a save. He went into the dressing room and two players had to carry him back out onto the ice for the team photo.

“I just went to make a sliding save and felt a lot of pain and I couldn’t really get up,” said Saunders in recalling the play.

It’s diagnosed as a tear in the cartilage in his right knee and it’s going to take a week or two to determine if it will heal from rest or will require surgery.

“I feel terrible for Clarkie. It’s his last year and he has this opportunity (Fred Page Cup) and an injury stops him from playing,” said Gill.

How It Will Play Out

I’ve watched practice a few times in the past few weeks, and all three goaltenders are getting ice time. It seems that Groh and Saunders get a skosh more time than Griggs, but it’s not a certainty at this point. I fully expect that the three will all see ice time early until one of them pulls ahead of the others with game performance.

Note: this post originally appeared on SaveUAHHockey.com in April. It has been slightly modified for our use here.

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Know Your Foe: Ferris State University

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The puck drops Thursday night at the Von Braun CenterPropst Arena. The Chargers’ opponent on both ends of this season are the Bulldogs of Ferris State University. As a service to you, the UAH Hockey fan, we present to you the first in a series: Know Your Foe.

Photo Credit: ferris.edu

Ferris State University, usually called “Ferris” or “FSU”, was founded by Woodbridge Nathan Ferris in 1884 as the Big Rapids Industrial School. Ferris the man was a career educator, working at various levels in his home state of New York as well as in Illinois before moving back to Michigan, where he had briefly studied medicine at the University of Michigan. Later in life, Ferris was Michigan’s 28th governor as well as representing the Great Lakes State in the United States Senate.

Ferris the university started off as a private school, held entirely in Ferris’s hands until 1900, when some stock was sold to the public with the founder retaining a controlling interest. In 1943, alumni pushed the state of Michigan to purchase the school, but the bill was vetoed by Governor Harry Kelly. In 1949, the state accepted the school as a charitable gift—no doubt some CCHA/GLIAC foes use this as a joke—but before the school could come under state control, the two major buildings burned in a fire.

Photo credit: Will Nickelson

Ferris was co-educational from the start, which is certainly to be commended. Ferris has one of only 16 national colleges of optometry. The school had an enrollment of 13,865 as of February 2010. The school unfortunately has nothing to do with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.


FSU is a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, joining the league in 1979. Since joining the league, the Bulldogs have only won the league title once: 2002-03, when Chris Kunitz netted 35-44–79 in 42 games and the Bulldogs had their best season ever, finishing 31-10-1 and making the NCAA tournament for the only time in school history. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Kunitz graduated after that season, and the team didn’t crack the 20-win plateau until last season, when Bob Daniels’s team went 21-13-6 and finished their season in the 3rd-place game in the CCHA tournament. In 2009-10, both the Bulldogs and Chargers finished their postseason play with 2-1 losses to the Miami Redhawks.

Okay, so we know a bit about the Bulldogs’ history. What history do they have with the Chargers? In the modern era—that is, since 1998-99, when Division II was abandoned by the NCAA and UAH moved up to Division I hockey again—the Chargers and Bulldogs have squared off three times. The first matchup came in that aforementioned 2002-03 season, as the Chargers shocked the then-eighth-ranked Bulldogs 5-4 in overtime in the first round of the UConn Ice Classic. I remember that game well, as I broadcast it on radio at the time. I remember the entire Bulldog team, especially Kunitz, growing increasingly frustrated as Scott Munroe shook off a bad five minutes to close the first period to stop 26 of 30 shots on the game. This year’s upperclassmen will remember the Chargers’ visit to Big Rapids in 2008-09, losing 4-2 (with an empty-netter to ice it) and 5-2.

Photo Credit: Terry Johnston

The 2010-11 edition of the Bulldogs is upperclass-heavy, but four of their top six scorers were lost to graduation, leaving senior Mike Embach as the leading forward scorer [9-11–20] and senior captain Zach Redmond [6-21–27] bringing points from the blue line. Pat Nagle [12-10-3, 2.13GAA, .923SV%] and Taylor Nelson [9-3-3, 2.49, .915] were both strong between the pipes for last season’s squad and return to again backstop their teammates this year.

How are they regarded? The coaches have the Bulldogs 7th in their preseason poll, and the media has them 6th. Redmond is a first-team preseason all-CCHA defenseman, and Nagle is second-team goaltender. All seems primed for a solid season, right? Well, maybe. There is the matter of that frustrating loss on Saturday night to Ontario Tech, losing 3-2 despite outshooting their foes 53-24. I’d caution any Charger fan to be wary of an exhibition game and drawing inferences from that one data point. If I were Bob Daniels, I wouldn’t have put the pedal to the metal knowing that my team would be traveling south to Alabama starting late Tuesday night.

The series promises to be a good one. Remember: puck drops at 7:05p.m. Thursday night and 7:05 p.m. on Friday night, not Friday/Saturday like normal.

Now you know your foe! See you at the rink.

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2010-11 UAH Hockey Captains

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I won’t bury the lede: Ryan Burkholder returns as captain for his senior season. The alternate captains are defensemen Matt Baxter and Curtis DeBruyn and forward Chris Fairbanks.

Burkholder, a senior from Newmarket, Ontario, played in junior hockey for his hometown Newmarket Hurricanes. Over three years in Huntsville, Burkholder has been a defensive defenseman, registering just two points in his collegiate career while anchoring the Chargers’ blueline. Burkholder is the second straight two-year, defenseman captain, following in the skate trails of Scott Kalinchuk, and was awarded a Bronze Scholar Award at the 2010 UAH Athletics Banquet for having a GPA in the 3.0-3.5 range.

Baxter, a senior from Courtice, Ontario, played junior hockey for the now-defunct Bowmanville Eagles. Over three years in a Charger uniform, Baxter has netted two goals and nine assists while patrolling the Charger blue line. Baxter has also proven to be a stellar student, making the College Hockey America All-Academic team as well as being awarded a Silver Scholar Award at the 2010 UAH Athletics Banquet for having a GPA in the 3.5-3.8 range, majoring in psychology and sociology.

DeBruyn, a sophomore from Calgary, Alberta, played junior hockey for the Olds Grizzlys. In his first season in Huntsville, played in 32 of the team’s 33 contests, netting one goal and six assists. DeBruyn is majoring in finance at UAH, and was awarded a Bronze Scholar Award at the 2010 UAH Athletics Banquet for having a GPA in the 3.0-3.5 range.

Fairbanks, a senior from Milford, Michigan, is the nephew of former Charger Mike Fairbanks and played junior hockey with the Mahoning Valley (now Youngstown) Phantoms. Fairbanks is fifth among returning scorers from the 2009-10 team, and has netted eight goals and six assists in 70 games for the Chargers and was awarded a Bronze Scholar Award at the 2010 UAH Athletics Banquet for having a GPA in the 3.0-3.5 range.

I know all four young men well, and they have shown themselves to be true Chargers, setting their foundations for success on and off the ice with character and discipline. Their work ethic shows both in their play on the ice and their performance in the classroom. Each has made significant strides each year in the Blue and White, and every Charger fan can be proud that they represent this program, our university, and the city of Huntsville. They will lead the team well this season. (Photos courtesy of Doug Eagan.)

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Wyatt Russell to Guest Star on Premiere of Law & Order: Los Angeles

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Wyatt Russell

Wyatt Russell in his lone start for The University of Alabama in Huntsville hockey program. (Photo: Will Nickelson)


Wyatt Russell is famous for his parentage: Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. He also happens to be a hard-working, aspiring goaltender. Russell was a member of the Charger hockey program for three semesters before leaving to play professionally and attend film school; he would have been ineligible for transfer if he’d completed a fourth semester of credit hours at UAH.

When we think of following our hockey alumni in their future endeavors, it’s usually as they play professionally; in Wyatt’s case, he’ll be showcasing his acting chops on Law & Order: Los Angeles, where he guest stars in the premiere episode, “Hollywood”. L&O:LA airs on Wednesday night’s at 10pm E/9pm C.

Officially-Licensed UAH Chargers Gear at Huntsville-Area Hibbett Sports Locations

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This is great news for all Charger fans:

The Licensing Resource Group (LRG) and the University of Alabama in Huntsville are proud to announce three Hibbett Sports locations will start carrying Chargers product. Merchandise has arrived at these locations and they will carry Chargers product to support the school. All three locations are carrying two different styles of shirts. These locations are located at 4710 University Dr, which is the Super Store, Madison Square Mall (5901 University Dr.), and Parkway Place Mall (2801 Memorial Pkwy South).

The Licensing Resource Group was founded in May of 1991, and currently represents more than 170 universities, athletic conferences and special properties nationwide. LRG provides trademark management services that include contract management, merchandising, brand development, information technology, and royalty management from offices in Holland, Michigan; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Iowa City, Iowa; Bristol, Rhode Island.

For your reference, the three locations, via Google Maps:


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As with anything retail, it’s a simple formula: buy the products and you’ll see more offerings. This is another way to support your Chargers, both financially and visibly. Now you can get officially-licensed merchandise outside of the UAH Bookstore, which should help many of our boosters and alumni.

GO BIG BLUE!