It is tempting to blame the extensive wayfaring for the Chargers’ 1-32-1 record, the worst in Division I. Perhaps the numbers would improve if hockey were in the same league (Gulf South) as other Alabama-Huntsville teams, for whom a far-off conference competition is in northwest Florida.

“The travel is obviously something you need to get used to,” said Mike Corbett, the first-year coach.

But having flown east regularly from the University of Denver as a player, he knows that the athletes adjust.

“To the kids, the travel is just being part of the program,” he said.

Destinations are limited to begin with at the Huntsville airport, which was recently ranked the most expensive in the United States for fares. The smaller planes there are not always able to accommodate the heft of the team’s gear, so the Chargers have relied on sleeper buses to make overnight trips. Then you have to factor in winter storms. To reach Minnesota State two weeks ago, the director of hockey operations Nick Laurila scrambled to secure from Nashville two buses designed for musical groups, and a rushed 16-hour expedition ended at the arena two and a half hours before the drop of the puck.

But the program’s tumultuous recent history is probably more responsible for the Chargers’ second-to-last R.P.I. ranking among 59 Division I teams.