Category Archives: Catching the Game

Catching the Game: at Alaska-Anchorage, 11/8-9

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It’s been a while since Charger fans have had to stay up to follow a game.

On the other hand, during the last time UAH visited Alaska regularly, you pretty much had to wait until the next day’s Huntsville Times to get the score.

So be happy about the times we live in and log on to watch the Chargers on Friday and Saturday nights to see the Chargers take on the Seawolves of Alaska-Anchorage. Alaska is three hours behind Huntsville, so puck drop both nights is 10:07 p.m. Central Time. And get used to it: In the WCHA, you’ll be doing this up to four games a season. Good thing it’s not a school night!

TEAM COMPARISON
UAH_logo_100 2013-14 Stats uaa_logo_150
0-6-0 Overall record 3-3-0
0-4-0 WCHA record 0-2-0
1.00 Goals per game 2.17
4.50 Goals allowed per game 3.00
16.0 Penalty minutes per game 20.7
3/35 (8.6%) Power play 5/35 (14.3%)
17/26 (65.4%) Penalty kill 34/40 (85.0%)
Alex Allen (2-0-2)
Chad Brears (2-0-2)
Steven Koshey (1-1-2)		 Leading scorers Matt Bailey (4-2-6)
Jordan Kwas (3-2-5)
Scott Allen (2-1-3)
Carmine Guerriero
(3 GS, 2.91 GAA, .915 SV%)
Matt Larose
(3 GS, 6.36 GAA, .843, SV%)		 Goaltending Michael Matyas (3 GS, 3.27 GAA, .879 SV%)
Rob Gunderson (3 GS, 2.53 GAA, .903 SV%)

 

The Chargers will be trying to figure out Fridays: The first three series openers have been losing blowouts. UAH has come back stronger on Saturdays, but have come up short three times with one-goal defeats.

It won’t be easy. UAH is 2-15 all time against UAA, and  has never beaten the Seawolves in Anchorage, losing all 11 games. Granted, all of that was 20 years ago, and Alaska-Anchorage has been down.

However, UAA has had a decent start to the season with  three wins, already half of their six-win total all of last season. The wins were impressive — a 3-1 victory over last year’s national finalist Quinnipiac, a 4-2 win over Air Force, and a 3-2 overtime against Denver — but all came in the state of Alaska.

UAA started its WCHA slate in Bowling Green and getting swept 6-1 and 1-0. The Seawolves were picked to finish 9th in both the coaches’ and media preseason polls, just ahead of the Chargers.

Next week, the Chargers return home for a non-conference series against St. Cloud State.

Catching the Game: at Northeastern, 10/11-12

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Now, we play hockey.

UAH hockey begins its 29th varsity season and 35th overall on Friday and Saturday night, 6:00 p.m. Central both nights. The Chargers are in Boston to take on the Northeastern Huskies. Here’s how you can follow the action:

TEAM COMPARISON
UAH_logo_100 2012-13 Stats Northeastern_logo_75
3-21-1 Overall record 9-21-4
1.44 (59th) Goals per game (rank) 2.38 (45th)
4.12 (58th) Goals allowed per game (rank) 3.47 (55th)
12.5 (32nd) Penalty minutes per game (rank) 12.4 (34th)
13.3% (53rd) Power play (rank) 16.5% (32nd)
76.3% (56th) Penalty kill (rank) 81.1% (32nd)

 

Northeastern leads the all-time series 2-0, beating UAH 3-0 and 3-1 in November of last season. Friday night is the season opener for both teams. Northeastern beat Dalhousie 5-0 in a preseason exhibition.

The Huskies struggled last season, particularly at the end, losing nine of their last 11 and finishing last in Hockey East. With significant roster turnover, Northeastern is not expected to fare better this season as they are picked to finish last in the Hockey East preseason coachces poll. Like UAH, the Huskies have a large freshman contingent (12) on their roster, one more than the Chargers. Sophomore Kevin Roy, who notched three assists against the Chargers last season, was their leading scorer last season with 17 goals.

Catching the Game: at Minnesota-Duluth, March 1-2

uahvsumdAfter another three-week break, UAH finishes up the 2012-13 campaign at Minnesota Duluth on Friday and Saturday. The boys will be looking to send the program into the WCHA on a high note.

The Chargers and Bulldogs met for the first time last season in Duluth. UMD was the defending national champion and top-ranked team in the country, but UAH played them close and lost 2-1 and 4-3.

Duluth isn’t ranked this time around, sporting a losing record (10-17-5) and holding ninth place in its last season in the WCHA. The Bulldogs, who will join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference next season, are winless in their last nine games.

The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. CT both nights. Live video, live stats, and live tweets will be available.

Catching the Game: Independent League Megabowl! (at Penn State, 2/8-9)

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We’re still buzzing over the program’s admission into the WCHA, but this season goes on with four road games to go. The boys play for the first time in four weeks as the head to “Hockey Valley” to face Penn State in a battle between Division I’s lone (temporarily) independent programs. Or, as Nittany Lions forward Tommy Olczyk has dubbed it:

And yes, it is catching on:

https://twitter.com/Johnny_Griggs/status/299635348751929344

https://twitter.com/BriceGeoffrion/status/299378951162298368

Friday’s and Saturday’s games start at 6:30 p.m. with live stats, live audio and live pay-per-view video. We’ll also try to throw in some live tweeting as well (#IndependentLeagueMegaBowl).

PennStateHockeyThis is Penn State’s first season as a varsity program. Its creation made PSU  the sixth Big Ten school with varsity hockey, which made it possible for the Big Ten to have a championship in the sport. The creation of the Big Ten’s hockey conference essentially led to the birth of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, the demise of the CCHA, and the reconstitution of the WCHA. And that gave UAH the opportunity to find its new home starting next season.

Of course, all that takes effect this fall. Right now, let’s look at UAH and Penn State, two programs with a some similarities and some history together.

The Nittany Lions’ inaugural varsity season features a schedule of opponents similar to UAH: a mix of Division I, Division III, and club teams, although Penn State’s strategy was intentional as they ease to the big leagues from club status.

While it’s the first time UAH and Penn State will meet as varsity programs, the two met six times as club teams in the 1980s.

The first was a 1982 National Club Hockey Championships quarterfinal. The Chargers battled to a 4-3 victory before cruising to their first national championship.

The 1983 rematch was in the championship game, and it was another thriller: 5-4 over the Lions as UAH defended its crown at the Von Braun (then Civic) Center.

Penn State visited Huntsville for a two-game series early in the 1983-84 season, and again the Chargers prevailed 6-3 and 4-3. The Lions finally got a win against UAH at Penn State later that season, beating the Chargers 5-4 after UAH won the first game 9-3.

UAH would still go on to win club national title No. 3 in 1984. However, Penn State, which wasn’t in the national club championship hosted in Huntsville, claims to have won a national title in 1984 as well. So what gives?

Apparently, by 1984 there was another season-ending tournament for club hockey called the National Invitation Tournamet. The Lions won that tourney while the Chargers won theirs. But that was the relative lack of organization in college hockey back then: It wouldn’t be until 1991 when the American College Hockey Association became the umbrella organization of club college hockey.

At any rate, it’s great to see these two schools meet again for the first time in 29 years. Hopefully Penn State will make a return to the VBC in the near future.

But for now, there’s a Megabowl to win.

For more about the Charger-Lion battles of 1983 and 1984, check out the Penn State blog Thank You Terry.

Catching the Game: vs. Oklahoma, 1/11-12

It’s the last home series of the season! Note that the games against Oklahoma’s club team, which were scheduled after the season began, will have no online video. To copy from last week’s recap:

  • Friday is a 7:30 p.m. start at the Municipal Ice Complex (3185 Leeman Ferry Road Southwest, Huntsville, AL 35801 if you’ve never been).  Tickets are free on a first-come, first-served basis.  There is not much room at the Iceplex, so make the drive early.
  • Saturday is a 3:00 p.m. start at the VBC.  All tickets are free at any seating level on a first-come, first-served basis.  Sorry, season ticket holders, there’s no way to reserve those seats for you outside of you going to the box office and specifically requesting your seat, which shouldn’t be hard to do day-of.

If you can’t get to either game, there’s still live stats and live tweets.

Catching the game: vs. Adrian 1/4, vs. Vanderbilt 1/5

Only four home games remain in the 2012-13 season: this weekend and next. So get your Charger hockey fix while you can.

adrian-vanderbilt-logosI don’t think UAH has ever hosted a two-game series with two different opponents. Division III Adrian stops by Friday, and Vanderbilt’s club team is in town Saturday. You may recall that a conflict in Adrian’s schedule prevented the Bulldogs from playing two in Huntsville, and Vandy was added to the open date.

Both games are at 7 p.m. If you can’t make it to Propst Arena, the usual suspects are available: Live online video, live statistics, and live tweeting.

Catching the Game: at Wisconsin 12/13-14

The Chargers are on TV this week! Well, provided you have the appropriate cable/satellite sports package. UAH visits Wisconsin for a Thursday-Friday series, with both games at 7 p.m. CT. The games will be televised on Fox Sports Wisconsin, Fox College Sports Pacific (Thursday) and Fox College Sports Central (Friday). For those who don’t have these channels (or can’t get to a sports bar that has them), there’s still online video (delayed to 10 p.m.), live audio, live stats, and live tweets.

Channel locations of FS Wisconsin, FCS Pacific, and FCS Central in Huntsville (check with your cable/satellite provider to find these channels in your area):

  • Knology (Sports Pak): FCS Pacific 192, FCS Central 191
  • Comcast (Sports Entertainment Package): FCS Pacific 725, FCS Central 724
  • DirecTV (Sports Pack): FS Wisconsin 652 (Thu.), RSN Alternate 625 (Fri.)
  • Dish Network (Multi-Sport Pack): Check listings
  • AT&T U-verse (Sports Package): FCS Pacific 649, FCS Central 648

The Badgers are 2-7-5 and have yet to win a game this season at the Kohl Center. This is one of the better chances to steal some points in Madison, where UAH is 0-6 all time.

Catching the Game: vs. U.S. Under-18 National Team, 11/30-12/1

The boys are back at home for the first time in six weeks. It’s Military Appreciation Weekend. You can trade another school’s shirt for a free Charger T-shirt. Predators’ PA announcer Paul McCann (Saturday) and another troupe from Nashville are coming down. So what else do you need? Come see the Chargers take on America’s brightest young hockey talent at the VBC! Friday night at 7. Saturday night at 7. If for whatever reason you can’t make it, there’s live video, live stats, and Twitter updates. But make it anyway!

Catching the Game: at Nebraska-Omaha, 11/23-24

Finally! The last of six straight road weekends! The final stop is against a club that UAH has given fits: Nebraska-Omaha. The Chargers stunned the Mavericks with a win in Nashville last season and an overtime victory in Omaha the season before. UNO is ranked 15th in the latest USCHO.com poll. Watch tonight at 7:30 and tomorrow at 7 on America One (PPV), listen on 1180 AM in Omaha, or follow the game with live stats or UAH Hockey on Twitter.