BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, citing

[Sol Diablo]

Many teams fly into Nashville, 2 hours away. Not much different that the 1 1/2 hr from Minneapolis to Mankato, or the 1:15 from Detroit to Bowling Green.

I used to drive from Atlanta to Huntsville to get the cheaper business flights. But that was a few years back, maybe pricing has changed.

 

[darker98]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

No, if the program shuts down... which they did, its immediate.

The first time this happened Clarke Saunders transferred to UND and was eligible Immediately.

 

[A Shot and a Goal]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

UAH hockey.

 

[davyd83]

I used to drive from Atlanta to Huntsville to get the cheaper business flights. But that was a few years back, maybe pricing has changed.

It’s at least another hour & 1/2 to Atlanta vs Huntsville, and that’s if Atlanta traffic is being nice.

 

[Split-N]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

I used to drive from Atlanta to Huntsville to get the cheaper business flights. But that was a few years back, maybe pricing has changed.

Those fares must have been super duper cheap to offset the cost of driving ~200 miles (one-way), not to mention the approx three hours of travel time (assuming Atlanta traffic was light). Take it from one who's been there a few times and has busted a travel budget sending other people there: HSV is a relatively small airport serving a relatively small city. Smaller airports have fewer commercial flights. The fewer the flights, the more expensive the fares. It's Airline Economics 101.

 

[MikeAnderson]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

If UAH doesn't use some of this sudden windfall to seed a dedicated "Charger Athletics Fund" with its own full-time manager, it will not achieve long-term financial stability and history will surely repeat itself...yet again.

The only thing they have is the "Charger Club," which is supported by a PDF on their athletics website and little else as far as an online presence is concerned. I thought it was an all-sport support unit, but reading the PDF, it literally only supports the basketball teams. The previous AD intentionally deemphasized hockey in the fundraising materials, based on their performance, I guess it just went downhill from there.

Their WCHA contemporaries (Bemidji and LSSU, I'd estimate) at least have a real website with some information and a call to action. And support all of their programs to boot.

It's shameful.

 

[Split-N]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

The only thing they have is the "Charger Club," which is supported by a PDF on their athletics website and little else as far as an online presence is concerned...It's shameful.

I read up on the Charger Club before I posted but didn't mention it because it was nothing more than a label for basketball season ticket packages. Nothing I'd like better than to see this latest cash infusion lead to UAH hockey becoming a stable, nationally relevant program. But IMO it likely will be nothing more than a band-aid unless and until the Athletics Dept. establishes a dedicated athletics fundraising capability and treats hockey as something other than a red-headed stepchild.

 

[Sol Diablo]

Those fares must have been super duper cheap to offset the cost of driving ~200 miles (one-way), not to mention the approx three hours of travel time (assuming Atlanta traffic was light). Take it from one who's been there a few times and has busted a travel budget sending other people there: HSV is a relatively small airport serving a relatively small city. Smaller airports have fewer commercial flights. The fewer the flights, the more expensive the fares. It's Airline Economics 101.

The pricing of flights is related to supply & demand and to some extent ancillary costs such as gate fees, jet fuel pricing & labor rates.
The supply to demand ratio was higher & fees lower in Huntsville than Atlanta at that time. This is Airline Economics 102

 

[UncleRay]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Is there anyone in the advancement/development staff who is dedicated to fundraising for the Athletics Department? It would be great if that person was listed among the Athletics Staff on the Athletics Website, so that people and organizations interested in supporting Athletics Teams would have a quick point of contact.

I don't think so.

GFM

That's pretty telling from a very general point of view. Any institution that size that doesn't dedicate at least one employee to athletics fundraising just doesn't care about athletics in a basic way. They are ignoring the need to fundraise for specific purposes. If the U won't bother raising the necessary funds, it falls to the fans to do it. Historically, it appears, they haven't bothered either. The only way I see UAH hockey staying around is for the advisory fan board to have to completely take over fundraising and to actually be successful at it. That won't be easy.

And then there's the pesky conference issue. Some say that raising 3/4 mill in a few days shows commitment. I say it shows desperation. Not having any dedicated fundraisers and cancelling the program every few years show the commitment the U has, in my opinion.

 

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Not having any dedicated fundraisers and cancelling the program every few years show the commitment the U has, in my opinion.

I think the bigger problem, as another poster already mentioned, maybe not in this thread, is that HUNTSVILLE wants hockey. The U of A system in general does not. U of A needed to make budget cuts this year. Is the state going to cut the budget of Alabama football or UAH hockey? UAH hockey quickly filters to the top of the list. So one of the long term solutions either needs to be getting the U of A system in step with what UAH wants, or make sure that a much larger portion of UAH hockey's budget comes from sources that UAH controls (alumni, local donors, etc), not the U of A statewide system.

 

[Sol Diablo]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

I think the bigger problem, as another poster already mentioned, maybe not in this thread, is that HUNTSVILLE wants hockey. The U of A system in general does not. U of A needed to make budget cuts this year. Is the state going to cut the budget of Alabama football or UAH hockey? UAH hockey quickly filters to the top of the list. So one of the long term solutions either needs to be getting the U of A system in step with what UAH wants, or make sure that a much larger portion of UAH hockey's budget comes from sources that UAH controls (alumni, local donors, etc), not the U of A statewide system.

Astute observation & analysis.

 

[gfmorris]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

That's pretty telling from a very general point of view. Any institution that size that doesn't dedicate at least one employee to athletics fundraising just doesn't care about athletics in a basic way. They are ignoring the need to fundraise for specific purposes. If the U won't bother raising the necessary funds, it falls to the fans to do it. Historically, it appears, they haven't bothered either. The only way I see UAH hockey staying around is for the advisory fan board to have to completely take over fundraising and to actually be successful at it. That won't be easy.

And then there's the pesky conference issue. Some say that raising 3/4 mill in a few days shows commitment. I say it shows desperation. Not having any dedicated fundraisers and cancelling the program every few years show the commitment the U has, in my opinion.

Thankfully the ****heel AD EJ Brophy is gone. He absolutely ****ed this program and all of Athletics.

This fundraiser was completely different than last time. Last time, it essentially felt like, "Oh, Lou Lamoriello called and said that we should keep it." This is different. But yes, if the school doesn't let the alumni lead on this, it's over after this season.

GFM

 

[Ed Trefzger]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Huntsville TV sports reporter tweeted this. Anybody heard anything else on this?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">UAH hockey Head coach Mike Corbett and staff have resigned this morning.<br><br>The program was reinstated last week after a massive fundraising effort.</p>— Carl Prather (@CarlPratherWAFF) <a href="https://twitter.com/CarlPratherWAFF/status/1268201708007690247?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

I have to think that was forced by the donors. Gfmorris has hinted at unhappiness with the current regime, and if the donors are going to pay for the majority of the next season, then I'd think they are effectively running the show.

 

[MavHockey14]

I have to think that was forced by the donors. Gfmorris has hinted at unhappiness with the current regime, and if the donors are going to pay for the majority of the next season, then I'd think they are effectively running the show.

This was my sentiment as well.

 

[TigerFan86-87]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Huntsville TV sports reporter tweeted this. Anybody heard anything else on this?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">UAH hockey Head coach Mike Corbett and staff have resigned this morning.<br><br>The program was reinstated last week after a massive fundraising effort.</p>— Carl Prather (@CarlPratherWAFF) <a href="https://twitter.com/CarlPratherWAFF/status/1268201708007690247?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Huntsville television station article stating the same thing:
https://www.waff.com/2020/06/03/uah-hockey-staff-resigns/

 

[JohnsonsJerseys]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

I have to think that was forced by the donors. Gfmorris has hinted at unhappiness with the current regime, and if the donors are going to pay for the majority of the next season, then I'd think they are effectively running the show.

Yeah, but there won't be a team without a coaching staff. Donors/advisors might be unhappy, but they are not going down to the rink to run practices. I can't see them asking for the school to can the whole staff at this point and just adding more instability to the situation.

If you wanted change to show progress, make a minor change, but just keep the program moving forward. Don't keep blowing it up every week and then try to pick up the pieces the next week and try to convince everyone that it's all fine. If you don't think players were looking for an exit last week, what do you think is in their heads now. Run, don't walk.

 

[devildog]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Thankfully the ****heel AD EJ Brophy is gone. He absolutely ****ed this program and all of Athletics.

This fundraiser was completely different than last time. Last time, it essentially felt like, "Oh, Lou Lamoriello called and said that we should keep it." This is different. But yes, if the school doesn't let the alumni lead on this, it's over after this season.

GFM

Last year I drove down to UAH for a weekend series with Northern, and to say the crowd was sparse would be an understatement. But right after the game, the Huntsville Havoc were playing and they darn near filled that arena. You can't tell me there aren't any hockey fans in that city, and the folks sure stepped up to keep UAH Hockey going. Hopefully, some new blood at the helm can get some excitement going and they can stay in the conference. I like those deep south trips.

 

[HofstraHockey]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Last year I drove down to UAH for a weekend series with Northern, and to say the crowd was sparse would be an understatement. But right after the game, the Huntsville Havoc were playing and they darn near filled that arena. You can't tell me there aren't any hockey fans in that city, and the folks sure stepped up to keep UAH Hockey going. Hopefully, some new blood at the helm can get some excitement going and they can stay in the conference. I like those deep south trips.

To that point- Huntsville has won the SPHL championship the last two years, and their average attendance has gone up to go along with it. UAH has won a total of 10 games the last two seasons. So if I'm picking one or the other, I'm likely to go with the pro game.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Re: BREAKING: Alabama Huntsville dropping men’s ice hockey effective immediately, cit

Yep, everyone likes a winner and UAH hasn't done much of that in awhile.