These guys ran the gauntlet: 10 of 11 Division I weekends on the road, constantly on the road, including six weekends straight. They didn’t know if the team would ever get in a Division I conference again, and there was a lot of uncertainty as to what that might be a program.

What was certain was that these guys didn’t quit.  What’s certain now is that UAH Hockey lives to fight another year.  The boys are in their first stable Division I home after 20 years of life as an independent and in the ill-fated College Hockey America.  Now UAH has made it.  These guys are a big reason why.

So here’s to Steve, Chad, Jack, Anderson, Jeff, Steve, Lasse, and Graeme; to Mike, Frank, Jamie, Ben, Alex, and Mat; to CJ, Craig, Justin, Brice, Johnny, Doug, Curtis, Gregg, and Sebastian; to Kyle, who’s doing work in Atlanta; to Coach Kleinendorst, Coach Garber, Coach Morgan, and Tim Flynn.

Here’s to success not always being measured in wins, and here’s to those successes garnering more wins next year like you know the boys want to see.

Here’s to Charger Hockey.

I am woefully overdue in getting you this information.  Here’s the details on the 2013 UAH Hockey Banquet from Tim Flynn, Director of Hockey Operations:

Our staff wanted to make sure all of our alumni, boosters and loyal fans were included in our invitations to this year’s banquet. It’s an exciting time as we conclude the independent era of the UAH Hockey program and look forward to a new begining in the WCHA next season. We’d love to have everyone come out and see some familiar faces and support the program as we begin to rebuild the great hockey tradition you all helped build at UAH. I have attached this years registration form please fill it out and send back at your earliest convienence. The event details are below.

What: 2013 UAH Hockey Banquet and Award Ceremony
Where: Holiday Inn – Downtown Huntsville
When: Friday April 5, 7 PM.
There will be both a live and silent auction along with dinner followed by an awards ceremony.

We are also looking for alumni who would be able to present an award, if you are coming and would like to participate please send me an e-mail.

We have set a date for our Annual Golf Tournament, it will be June 8 at 8 AM over at Hampton Cove. We will have more details available at the banquet.

The banquet is always a lot of fun, and I really suggest that you attend, even if all you do is buy dinner and watch.  This is a great way to send off our seniors and celebrate a program that we all believe is on the rise.

If you want to attend, here’s the banquet invitation and banquet flyer that Tim sent the boosters.

I hope to see you there!

Anyone who’s ever studied calculus — which is most UAH alumni — knows the concept of the inflection point.  It’s the point on a curve where the sign changes.  Tonight’s game against Duluth probably wasn’t an inflection point, but winter 2013 has been.

Anyone who’s looked at the records of this university’s varsity hockey program over the last decade has seen a trend: After a peak in mid-decade, it’s been a steady downward trend ever since, two NCAA postseason trips notwithstanding.  We all know the story by now: league disbands, league denies, independent life, Portera ends it, Altenkirch saves it, league accepts.  It’s easy to see that this should be an inflection point: When we’ve played against a stable conference, we’ve been a good Division I hockey program.  There’s no reason to believe that this shouldn’t be one again.

I think that these last four games are a part of that.  Consider what they are: four final games for the last members of the second tournament team; a chance to play Penn State and measure ourselves against a team that has a one-year lead on building for the future; and a chance to finish strong against Duluth, an opponent of the quality that we’ll likely see in the WCHA next season (although UMD will be in the NCHC).

What did we see?  A tough 4-0 loss in State College powered by a David Glen hat trick followed by a tight 4-3 loss the next night to lose the one and only #IndependentLeagueMegabowl.  Last night we had a 4-2 loss to the Dogs, and tonight it was 4-0.  All of these were well-fought efforts, and the important thing here is that the boys finished strong and didn’t just play out the string.  It would’ve been easy to let up knowing that the clean slate was coming, but they didn’t.  The values they showed, the commitment to the program no matter the pain: maintaining that is the steel that makes that inflection point happen.

Tonight’s in-game inflection point was a major penalty and game misconduct to Graeme Strukoff in the 2nd period.  Duluth would end up scoring twice, taking what was a tight 1-0 game to a wide lead.  Losing the sophomore defenseman also put the Chargers down to five blueliners, and the Bulldogs pressed the advantage with speedy breakouts and tight forechecking.  The boys kept battling and showed flashes, but the puck was never consistently in the UMD end after the major power play.

Senior John Griggs picks up 42 saves in his final UAH start.  The senior is joined by Justin Cseter, Curtis deBruyn, and Sebastian Geoffrion in a class that has worked hard to maintain the traditions of the program through the stormy waters of being an independent program.  Gentlemen, we are in your debt.

The first round of the “Independent League Megabowl” didn’t live up to the hype if you were expecting a competitive game (or a Charger victory). Penn State rolled 4-0 in the matchup of Division I’s two independent teams,  and the first meeting between the schools as varsity programs.

The Chargers, who hadn‘t played since January 12, came out of the gate sluggish. While they were able to apply more offensive pressure as the game progressed, the action wasn’t crisp enough to produce any goals in the first period. Penn State wasn’t much better, despite a 10-8 shots on goal advantage in the frame.

However, it was Penn State who found the groove in the second period. After a turnover behind the net, Kenny Brook made a backhanded pass through the slot, finding David Glen, who found the net to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead at 1:41.

After Graeme Strukoff was called for tripping, Penn State made it 2-0 on a 4-on-3 power play as Max Gardiner redirected a Mark Yanis rocket from the center point.

It didn’t get better in the third, as the David Glen Show continued. Glen’s spin-move shot from the left circle lifted past Johnny Griggs at 11:20 to make it 3-0. Glen completed the hat trick with a goal with 5:10 left.

Things got feisty with just under eight minutes to go. Lasse Uusivirta fired a shot on Penn State goalie Matthew Skoff after the whistle, which drew the ire of the Nittany Lions. A scrum ensued, drawing several penalties on both sides. Uusivirta received a 10-minute misconduct to go with his 2-minute minor, while Jeff Vanderlugt and Penn State’s Mark Yanis received coincidental double minors for roughing. UAH’s Justin Cseter and PSU’s Casey Bailey also got roughing minors.

Penn State outshot the Chargers 43-23 for the game. Griggs made 39 saves.

Round 2 is tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. Central.

Coach Kurt Kleinendorst addressed a number of us boosters at lunch today and said, “Our guys will have their hands full this weekend.”  He was right: Oklahoma’s club team is a cut above the SECHC teams.  While the Sooners competed hard, I never felt that this game was in doubt, even with the score knotted at 1-1 midway through the first period.  Indeed, it was a 3-1 UAH victory. [BOX]

Sebastian Geoffrion had quite the night.  The senior from Brentwood scored the opening and closing goals on the night while assisting on the middle one, which was scored by Frank Misuraca on the power play.

The Sooners out-shot the Chargers in the second frame, but their six minor penalties really kept them from making a move in the game.  UAH had a 5-on-3 for :57 with consecutive minors for embellishment—haven’t seen that called in a while; Doug Martinson might have given that one out—and interference late in the second, but the boys in blue couldn’t light the red lamp.

Saturday’s contest will return us to the familiar environs of the VBC at the unfamiliar time of 3:00 p.m.  Hope to see you there for the last home hockey that we’ll see until … October.