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UAH Athletics | February 28, 2014

UAH's roller-coaster existance

July 1979
Scientists and engineers from the north moving to Huntsville quickly brought hockey to the south and a team was formed. Joe Ritch was then named the first head coach in program history. Southern Collegiate Hockey Association (SCHA) was established as UAH joined Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Georgia State and Emory as the first organized hockey conference in the southeastern U.S.
Oct. 26, 1979Team defeats Emory 11-4 in first hockey game in school history.
1981Team goes 27-1 en route to SCHA Championship defeating Tennessee 7-6 in OT.
1982Team wins first National Club Championship with 14-2 win against Southern Methodist in Boulder, Colo.
1982Program hires 1976 U.S. Olympian Doug Ross as full-time head coach, UAH goes 26-7-2 in his first season and wins its second consecutive National Club Championship with 5-4 victory against Penn State.
1984Program claims third consecutive National Club Championship with 12-1 win against Ohio.
1985North Dakota State spoils UAH's attempt at a fourth-consecutive championship and keeps the UAH seniors from winning four titles in four years.
Oct. 26, 1985UAH goes to NCAA Division II, falls 7-2 to Ferris State in first varsity game.
1986UAH officially joins the NCAA. The Chargers finish the 1986-87 season with a 20-10 program record as a Division II school.
1987UAH Hockey proclaimed “Hockey Capital of the South” by then Alabama governor George C. Wallace.
1987Hockey goes NCAA Division I as NCAA goes away with Division II hockey championship, team goes 11-18-1 in debut season.
1992Hockey moves back to NCAA Division II
March 12, 1994Team falls in DII Championship to Bemidji State in longest night of program history (11:10 p.m.). The 6,451 people in attendance is the largest crowd in NCAA history to watch a Division II event as the Beavers scored the game-winner in sudden-death overtime of the mini-game tiebreaker.
Feb. 18, 1995UAH sets a home attendance record with 6,645 people watching the Chargers beat Minnesota State 5-2 at the Von Braun Center.
March 9, 1996UAH goes undefeated at 26-0-3, crushes Bemidji State 7-1 to take home the program's first NCAA championship winning on their home ice in Huntsville.
March 15, 1997Bemidji State bests UAH in another National Championship meeting between the two, this time in Minnesota. BSU won 3-2 and 4-2 to deny UAH of back-to-back titles.
June 30, 1998UAH announces the hockey program would return to Division I. The Chargers play the 1998-99 season as an independent.
March 14, 1998In what would be the fourth and final meeting in Division II between the two clubs, UAH brought the trophy back to Huntsville with two dominating 5-2 and 6-2 victories against the Beavers.
June 15, 1999Program joins College Hockey America (CHA) as a charter member.
March 12, 2000Team falls in inaugural CHA Tournament final 3-2 to Niagara.
2001Hockey finishes 15-4-1 in CHA, captures regular season title but is upset 4-1 by Wayne State in tournament final.
2003Team claims second CHA regular season championship, going 13-5-2, but is again ousted in tournament, this time by Bemidji State in the semifinals in overtime.
Jan. 6, 2007Doug Ross announces that this season will be his last as head coach of the Chargers.
March 11, 2007UAH defeats Robert Morris 5-4 for CHA tournament title, after falling behind 4-0 and David Nimmo scoring the short-handed game-winner in overtime.
March 23, 2007At Grand Rapids, Mich., UAH loses to Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional semifinal 3-2 in double overtime, the longest game in UAH history and the final game for coach Doug Ross.
April 30, 2007Danton Cole is hired as UAH's third head hockey coach.
Aug. 11, 2009UAH applies to CCHA but is denied admittance by league officials.
2009CHA dissolves, UAH to go independent following 2009-10 season.
March 13, 2010Keenan Desmet scores the game-winner in overtime to lead UAH to a 3-2 win against Niagara in the CHA tournament final and its second NCAA Division I Tournament berth.
March 27, 2010Miami beats UAH 2-1 in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal in Fort Wayne, Ind.
June 21, 2010Danton Cole steps down to become head coach of the U.S. National Development Team.
July 9, 2010Assistant Coach Chris Luongo becomes the program's fourth head coach.
Oct. 24, 2011UAH announces it will relegate the hockey program to club status.
Dec. 6, 2011After meeting with program boosters, UAH and new president Dr. Robert A. Altenkirch announce the hockey program will stay varsity and NCAA Division I on the condition it joins a conference.
June 13, 2012Hockey program formally applies to join WCHA and league officials meet in Detroit for summer meetings to discuss new-look league.
Sept. 25, 2012Kurt Kleinendorst replaces Chris Luongo as head coach.
Jan. 17, 2013UAH joins WCHA, begins play immediately in 2013-14.
May 29, 2013Kurt Kleinendorst resigns as head coach of UAH and accepts head coaching position of the Iowa Wild.
July 8, 2013Team hires Mike Corbett as program's sixth head coach, as he and his staff sign largest freshman class in program history.
Oct. 25, 2013UAH plays its first WCHA game, losing 6-1 to Bemidji State at the Von Braun Center.
Dec. 7, 2013Team wins first WCHA game 4-3 against Bowling Green in OT. Frank Misurca scored with four seconds remaining in the OT period.