HUNTSVILLE – “Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear …”
Von Braun Bullies. “Crafty” Chris Crenshaw. “Bad” Bill Roberts. Brian “Battleship” Kelly.
Those names harken back to the formative years of hockey at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
The Chargers’ rivalry in the old Southern Collegiate Hockey Association with the University of Tennessee was legendary. UAH captured three straight SCHA titles from 1980-82, including beating the Vols in the 1981 and ’82 championship games.
Now, the two foes renew their old postseason acquaintance in this weekend’s College Hockey South Division II playoffs in Huntsville.
And Head Coach Tim Flynn wants to rekindle the past successes of the program as the team rebuilds. The club team was reborn in 2018, in the final throes of the Division I program. However, just as the team was hitting its stride, the pandemic hit like a crosscheck to the back.
But they persevered, said Flynn, who was an assistant coach for UAH from 2010-12 and the team’s director of hockey operations in 2012-13 and 2017-18.
“During COVID, the team was unable to play or practice, so they basically had to start from scratch,” he said. “I always want to make sure Ralph Drensek Jr. and Nick Boyce get credit for keeping this team going and putting in a ton of work to get the players registered, games and practices scheduled – all of the behind the scenes work that went into keeping the team afloat during all of the challenges that period of time presented for everyone.
“Thanks to their perseverance, this program has been able to grow and has come a long way in the last three years … due to local players having pride in the program and wanting it to be great again.”
Flynn said several current players also brought a never-say-die attitude to overcome the negativity.
“Guys like Bradly McDonald, Keaton and Kolton Watts really stepped up a couple years ago and joined a team that was struggling, they didn’t focus on the negatives,” he said. “They knew what this program could be and wanted to help turn it around and were willing to do the work to get us there.
“That encouraged the next wave of players to come and keep building on our success and we’ve found our way to the playoffs. Next year, we’re hopeful to have that next wave and keep building on the success.”
Flynn also credited the local support from the community, North Alabama Hockey Association and Total Performance Hockey for the program’s rebirth.
“I think our success is directly tied to the great coaching and development these local kids get through NAHA and TPH, so a big thank you to all their staff and volunteers for all of their help over the years,” he said.
The Chargers (9-9-1-2 overall) are the No. 7 seed in the CHS tournament and will face No. 2 Tennessee (14-8-0-1) in a quarterfinal matchup Friday night at the Huntsville Ice Sports Center (formerly Wilcoxon Ice Complex) on Leeman Ferry Road.
“We’re very excited for the opportunity to play for a championship this weekend, and to be able to do it in Huntsville makes it even more special,” said Flynn. “Our goal from the beginning of the season was to get here, and the guys have worked extremely hard to be in this position so I’m very proud of them.
“It should be a pretty fun experience for the whole team, but especially the local players and we have a lot of talented players from Huntsville so to get to play in front of friends, family, their former coaches and teammates, I think is something they’re all excited about.”
The two teams split their season series. UAH beat the Vols 4-3 last September in Huntsville and the Vols won the return match 5-3 in Knoxville in November.
“They won our division, and come in as the No. 2 seed so we definitely have our work cut out for us,” Flynn said. “We’ll be leaning on our top scorers, Huntsville natives, Keaton and Kolton Watts. They’ve been a big part of our success this year, especially offensively.”
Joining UAH and the Vols are top seed Florida Atlantic University; No. 3 Florida; No. 4 Central Florida; No. 5 Tampa, No. 6 Clemson; and No. 8 Vanderbilt.
The schedule
- 6 p.m. – Rink 1: No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 Clemson
- 7 p.m. – Rink 2: No. 4 UCF vs. No. 5 Tampa
- 8:30 p.m. – Rink 1: No. 1 FAU vs. No. 8 Vanderbilt
- 9:30 p.m. – Rink 2: No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 7 UAH
- 11 a.m. – Rink 1: Seventh-place game
- 1:30 p.m. – Rink 1: Fifth-place game
- 4 p.m. – Rink 1: Semifinal game 1
- 6:30 p.m. – Rink 1: Semifinal game 2
- 10 a.m. – Rink 1: Third-place game
- 12:30 p.m. – Rink 1: Championship
Flynn said the Chargers don’t rely solely on the two Huntsville players and touts the team’s depth.
” … we have scoring depth with players like Josh Corrow, Henry Hoff, Bradly McDonald and Tyler Trombly,” he said. “We’re going to need contributions from that group to have success this weekend. Cameron Crawford has been strong in goal for us this year, and gives us a chance to win every night, we need to do a good job in front of him.
“Guys like Michael Clemons, Nate Litton, Elijah Howard and Matthew Diercks will be counted on to do that as our defensive forwards, Jacob Newman, Jackson Herman, Jacob Harrison, Kaleb Watts, Henry Hoard are going to see a lot of minutes as defensemen and be counted on to make Craw’s job as easy as possible.”
Passes for the entire tournament are $30 each; session tickets are $15. Tickets for the event can be purchased here or at the Ice Sports Center.
The games will be streamed on the College Hockey South YouTube channel.
“It should be a lot of fun,” Flynn said. “A big thank you to the Huntsville Sports Commission for putting this event on, and the people at College Hockey South for hosting these types of tournaments in Huntsville, and obviously the Huntsville Ice Sports Center for all their hospitality and coordination.”
The Chargers are a club program and the financial burden falls on the players to represent UAH and Huntsville. To donate to the club, click Fundraiser for UAH Club Hockey by McKenna Riopelle : Help UAH Club Hockey! (gofundme.com). To sponsor, email to [email protected].
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