What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

UAH Hockey 2015-16: The next step

U

UAHStatman

Registered User
With the signings for 2015-16 released, it sounds like a good time to flip the forum thread calendar, as it were.

This will be UAH's 31st season of varsity hockey and 37th overall. This is the 23rd season in Division I (18th since rejoining in 1998), and the third in the WCHA.

The schedule (home games in bold):

Oct. 9-10 – Connecticut
Oct. 23-24 – Alaska Anchorage*
Oct. 30-31 – Lake Superior State*
Nov. 6-7 – Michigan Tech*
Nov. 20-21 – Bowling Green*
Nov. 25, 27 – Bemidji State*
Dec. 4-5 – Northern Michigan*
Dec. 11-12 – Minnesota State*
Dec. 18-19 – Colorado College
Jan. 1-2 – North Dakota
Jan. 8-9 – Alaska*
Jan. 15-16 – Ferris State*
Jan. 29-30 – Alaska Anchorage*
Feb. 12-13 – Minnesota State*
Feb. 19-20 – Northern Michigan*
Feb. 26-27 – Bemidji State*
March 4-5 – Bowling Green*

Unofficial and incomplete roster: http://uahhockey.com/players/
Signings info: http://uahchargers.com/news/2015/8/3/MHOCKEY_0803151308.aspx

Last season, the Chargers were 8-26-4 overall and 7-20-1 in the WCHA. Lost at Michigan Tech in two games in the WCHA first-round playoffs. The eight wins were more than the three previous seasons combined.

The next logical step in the program's growth, I believe, is double-digit wins. A fast start certainly is possible.
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2015-16: The next step

I could easily see UAH hosting MTU in November with a winning record under their belts but after that the schedule is pretty tough. Other than four games against Anchorage that's a rough conference slate.
4 x Mankato
4 x BGSU
4 x Bemidji (maybe not a top three team, but rival games are never easy)
... and then throw North Dakota ________ on top of pile. Ten+ wins from that schedule would be a nice step forward for UAH.
Ryan J
 
UAHStatman said:
With the signings for 2015-16 released, it sounds like a good time to flip the forum thread calendar, as it were.

This will be UAH's 31st season of varsity hockey and 37th overall. This is the 23rd season in Division I (18th since rejoining in 1998), and the third in the WCHA.

The schedule (home games in bold):

Oct. 9-10 – Connecticut
Oct. 23-24 – Alaska Anchorage*
Oct. 30-31 – Lake Superior State*
Nov. 6-7 – Michigan Tech*
Nov. 20-21 – Bowling Green*
Nov. 25, 27 – Bemidji State*
Dec. 4-5 – Northern Michigan*
Dec. 11-12 – Minnesota State*
Dec. 18-19 – Colorado College
Jan. 1-2 – North Dakota
Jan. 8-9 – Alaska*
Jan. 15-16 – Ferris State*
Jan. 29-30 – Alaska Anchorage*
Feb. 12-13 – Minnesota State*
Feb. 19-20 – Northern Michigan*
Feb. 26-27 – Bemidji State*
March 4-5 – Bowling Green*

Unofficial and incomplete roster: http://uahhockey.com/players/
Signings info: http://uahchargers.com/news/2015/8/3/MHOCKEY_0803151308.aspx

Last season, the Chargers were 8-26-4 overall and 7-20-1 in the WCHA. Lost at Michigan Tech in two games in the WCHA first-round playoffs. The eight wins were more than the three previous seasons combined.

The next logical step in the program's growth, I believe, is double-digit wins. A fast start certainly is possible.
Click to expand...
Terrific to see four non-conference home games and 18 total at the VBC. Double digits is a reachable goal. Time to start developing a replacement for Carmine!
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2015-16: The next step

I'm looking forward to the season, 2-3 double-digit goal scorers, and double-digit wins. If you get those things, maybe you sneak up to the #5 seed, and then it's In Carmine We Trust.

GFM
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2015-16: The next step

Your first game of the year is going to be tough!. Those guys play very defensive but they have some talent and will have an exhibition the weekend before.
Win those, and you, and our league, will be on the way to a good year.
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2015-16: The next step

manurespreader said:
Your first game of the year is going to be tough!. Those guys play very defensive but they have some talent and will have an exhibition the weekend before.
Win those, and you, and our league, will be on the way to a good year.
Click to expand...

I see UConn poached Letunov from BC. He had an outstanding year in the USHL last year, and should step right in and be a top player for the Huskies, who seem on a path to being competitive in HE (Assuming Letunov gets by the NCAA clearing house, which is never a consistent or understandable process). I like seeing your nonconference home games against HE and NCHC teams. It's good for the WCHA and it shows UAH is a big time program.
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2015-16: The next step

gfmorris,

You have know witnessed a couple of WCHA seasons. What are your thoughts? How far is or isn't UAH behind the other schools with arena's etc. Have the fans enjoyed it or is it still too early? Thanks.
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2015-16: The next step

4four4 said:
gfmorris,

You have know witnessed a couple of WCHA seasons. What are your thoughts? How far is or isn't UAH behind the other schools with arena's etc. Have the fans enjoyed it or is it still too early? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Okay, now the thing to note here is that I haven't had the chance to travel the last two years. I might some this year, but the bulk of hockey will be during my "burn in" period as a flight controller, so that will limit things unless my time off wraps around a weekend.

I've been to the BEC in Marquette. I wish that ours were sized that way, but I'd take the VBC. Past that, I haven't been in anyone's facilities, so I can't speak ill nor well of anyone.

Our fans have absolutely enjoyed being in the WCHA. It's nice to have consistency of opponents! We'd see a team and then not see them for years. Shoot, our fans were very sad that we didn't get the Beavs in town this year. I kept telling people, "We'll get them the next three years, y'all," and they'd listen. But after more than a decade of seeing them in our barn, going a few times in a few years without them hurt things. They're a touchstone to the days when we were a good CHA team. Shoot, I think that we saw of Bob Daniels than Tom Serratore.

Last year was key for us mainly because we won games at home. It had been so long, mainly because of all the externalities of the situation keeping us from having many home games, much less being any good. There was clear, demonstrable growth from 13-14 to 14-15. I don't know if this year's class is better than last year's —*I don't follow junior hockey well enough to have an opinion, and I haven't seen any video —*but as long as they come between the last two classes, I'll be happy. I think there are guys that will score in this group, and Lord knows that we need that. As long as the talent level keeps rising, and as long as we have Carmine Guerriero, I am very bullish. [I'll be honest: I'm really excited about this crop of freshmen. It's just that, when it comes to recruiting kids out of junior hockey, my main skills are "extrapolating stats from juniors to college" and "being a good aerospace engineer".]

As for an arena, which I think was your question in a roundabout way: do we want to replace the VBC? Yes, I think so. The VBC serves our basic needs, but our biggest problem — and the Havoc's biggest problem, and the problem of any other team that will ever call that a home arena, regardless of sport —*is the lack of team space at arena level. No team has anything close to an adequate locker room in terms of space available. That's a function of how the building was built —*nothing more, nothing less. We have different philosophies of how to build sporting complexes this day, and UAH playing in a 45-year-old building that wasn't originally intended to have a sporting facility, well ... yeah, we're making do with what we have.

The University is working on getting a new, on-campus rink — and that's been largely true for the last decade. I hope that we'll get it sometime in the next 5-7 years. Bob Altenkirch knows to take my call after I win Mega Millions or Powerball.

In 2013, I was just happy that we had a league and hadn't folded. In 2014, I was hoping for 6-8 wins. This year, I hope that they'll make a run at #4 [getting past MSU-MTU-BGSU is going to be well nigh impossible]. WCHA playoff hockey in Huntsville? Yes, please. I do think that we can compete in this league. I look north to BG and see that you can do it pretty quickly if you have a community and fan base behind you.

GFM
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2015-16: The next step

gfmorris said:
Okay, now the thing to note here is that I haven't had the chance to travel the last two years. I might some this year, but the bulk of hockey will be during my "burn in" period as a flight controller, so that will limit things unless my time off wraps around a weekend.

I've been to the BEC in Marquette. I wish that ours were sized that way, but I'd take the VBC. Past that, I haven't been in anyone's facilities, so I can't speak ill nor well of anyone.

Our fans have absolutely enjoyed being in the WCHA. It's nice to have consistency of opponents! We'd see a team and then not see them for years. Shoot, our fans were very sad that we didn't get the Beavs in town this year. I kept telling people, "We'll get them the next three years, y'all," and they'd listen. But after more than a decade of seeing them in our barn, going a few times in a few years without them hurt things. They're a touchstone to the days when we were a good CHA team. Shoot, I think that we saw of Bob Daniels than Tom Serratore.

Last year was key for us mainly because we won games at home. It had been so long, mainly because of all the externalities of the situation keeping us from having many home games, much less being any good. There was clear, demonstrable growth from 13-14 to 14-15. I don't know if this year's class is better than last year's —*I don't follow junior hockey well enough to have an opinion, and I haven't seen any video —*but as long as they come between the last two classes, I'll be happy. I think there are guys that will score in this group, and Lord knows that we need that. As long as the talent level keeps rising, and as long as we have Carmine Guerriero, I am very bullish. [I'll be honest: I'm really excited about this crop of freshmen. It's just that, when it comes to recruiting kids out of junior hockey, my main skills are "extrapolating stats from juniors to college" and "being a good aerospace engineer".]

As for an arena, which I think was your question in a roundabout way: do we want to replace the VBC? Yes, I think so. The VBC serves our basic needs, but our biggest problem — and the Havoc's biggest problem, and the problem of any other team that will ever call that a home arena, regardless of sport —*is the lack of team space at arena level. No team has anything close to an adequate locker room in terms of space available. That's a function of how the building was built —*nothing more, nothing less. We have different philosophies of how to build sporting complexes this day, and UAH playing in a 45-year-old building that wasn't originally intended to have a sporting facility, well ... yeah, we're making do with what we have.

The University is working on getting a new, on-campus rink — and that's been largely true for the last decade. I hope that we'll get it sometime in the next 5-7 years. Bob Altenkirch knows to take my call after I win Mega Millions or Powerball.

In 2013, I was just happy that we had a league and hadn't folded. In 2014, I was hoping for 6-8 wins. This year, I hope that they'll make a run at #4 [getting past MSU-MTU-BGSU is going to be well nigh impossible]. WCHA playoff hockey in Huntsville? Yes, please. I do think that we can compete in this league. I look north to BG and see that you can do it pretty quickly if you have a community and fan base behind you.

GFM
Click to expand...

Steve Briere a customer of mine says things are on its way in Huntsville. He likes where things are heading.
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2015-16: The next step

Just my two cents because I like talking Charger hockey...As for this year's recruiting class, I don't think there is a Max McHugh among the incoming freshmen, so we should temper our expectations accordingly. Salerno, in my opinion, could have brought something close, but he'll be sitting out this year. Maybe someone like Jetlan Houcher will surprise us. On the blue line, however, UAH may have rolled in its best crop of kids in the D1 era. Knight and Gosselin are two guys who would be solid recruits for any program. Legit pro potential. Should both be top four guys relatively quickly. Ten wins is not out of the question for this team.
 
Re: UAH Hockey 2015-16: The next step

So I'm getting together our season preview with interviews with the coaching staff and captains. I talk to Corbs at 10am on Monday 8/31 (I know, way short notice). If you have things that you want asked, let me know. I've already talked to Brears, Misuraca, and Morgee. I have a good feeling about this situation.

GFM
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top