UA-Huntsville to Move Program to Club Level Next Season

By Andrew Gerbosi

An end of an era has occurred today as the University of Alabama-Huntsville Men's Hockey program will no longer compete at the Division I level after this season.  UAH, the only Division I program south of the Mason-Dixon line, and host of this years Frozen Four in Tampa, will be moving the program to the club level as announced earlier today.  With many teams scrambling for conference affiliation, UAH was left out in the cold, currently finishing out their existence as an independent.  The Chargers had applied to become members of the CCHA when their previous conference announced it would be folding, but were denied.  For more information on the changes being made for the Chargers program, please see the links below:

• UAHHockey.com - It's Over
• UAH Chargers - Charger Hockey to Move to Club Level in 2012-2013
• CHN - Alabama-Huntsville Program to End After This Season

In my opinion, this is a sad day for all of Division I hockey in that a trailblazing program was not able to survive.  Hockey does indeed exist in the south, and Huntsville had the ability to make their program shine at the top level for a while, but pressure from the school system ultimately decided their fate.  It is hard to say whether or not a conference affiliation would have saved the program, but being located so far away from the rest of the Division I teams, it is understandable why no one wanted to admit them and force the long travel on their teams.  As mentioned in the previous article about the changing landscape of college hockey, there is definite potential for an expansion of teams in the south, including Nebraska as a Big Ten Member and possibly from teams in the Big 12, if the conference still exists.  Either way, hockey will still continue to exist in the south, but with the absence of the Chargers, it will be missing from the NCAA.