On Friday, October 12, 2012, the University of Alabama in Huntsville Chargers kick off their season of Division 1 hockey. The weekend before promises to be a fun time as UAH takes on the University of Alabama Frozen Tide in an exhibition game, but this will be the first regular game of the season. The struggles of the UAH Chargers have been well documented and no need to rehash them here. The important thing is there is a season this year.
When the puck drops between the Chargers and the Mavericks of Minnesota State, the puck drops on a new era of UAH Hockey. The Chargers are currently an independent school in search of a conference, but that could all change on opening weekend. There is a possibility that the board members of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) will be in attendance for the weekend series. The WCHA is in the midst of realigning its conference. The list of schools currently in the WCHA reads as a who’s who of college hockey programs including the University of Wisconsin, University of North Dakota, University of Minnesota and more. The board is currently reviewing schools to join their conference with recent additions including Bowling Green State University and University of Alaska-Fairbanks. Conference affiliation means that the team would receive assistance with scheduling, travel costs and more.
As hockey fans we all hope that the lockout will be over and the season will start on time. If it doesn’t, I hope you will join all of us from Penalty Box Radio as we go back to Huntsville to chant and cheer the guys into the conference. We will still be making our trip down on Sunday October 7th either way but: 1) you can never have enough hockey 2) These hardworking guys deserve and 3) you can NEVER have enough hockey. 4) You NEVER know when a surprise painted belly may appear. 5) YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH HOCKEY!
You can keep up with the guys from UAH hockey at their personal blog over at http://www.collegehockeyalabama.blogspot.com/ . You can also follow UAH Hockey on Twitter @UAHHockey and their website uahhockey.com.
