Hunting For Victories

Leaving Tough Offseason Behind, Young UAH Bids For Postseason Again

by Christopher Boulay/CHN Writer (@chrismboulay)

There are mixed feelings among Alabama-Huntsville fans considering the developments of the past several months.

While the team managed to make the playoffs last season, the eighth-place finish and 8-28-2 overall record culminated in a spirited effort against WCHA champion Minnesota State, which swept Alabama-Huntsville in the quarterfinals. Making the conference playoffs for the second year in a row was an achievement, but the news just 3 1/2 months later that seven WCHA teams would be moving on without the Chargers, Alaska and Alaska-Anchorage, was tough news to take.

There are two more seasons before Alabama-Huntsville will have to either find a new conference home or decide to go it alone as an independent once again. A new arena, which is part of a preliminary plan to grow the campus in Huntsville, is in play. If the school locks down the funding soon, it would be the proof that they prioritize hockey, which could make the school more attractive to a long-term agreement with a conference.

Until then, the team has to get it done on the ice. There are playoff aspirations for Alabama-Huntsville in the WCHA this season, and considering the competition, it’s an attainable goal. Teams in the lower tier of the conference, such as Alaska-Anchorage and Ferris State, may continue to struggle. And if the Chargers get off to a quick start, they can make a move and potentially get to the playoffs for the third consecutive time.

The WCHA is seemingly split into tiers, with the bottom tier being the teams that are regularly batting for the final playoff spots. The top tier are those teams consistently vying for championships, leaving the middle tier where teams battle to get home ice in the WCHA playoffs.

“We’re one of those teams, we gotta take that jump into the middle tier and solidify ourselves,” Alabama-Huntsville head coach Mike Corbett said. “When you’ve got young guys, they’re young and inexperienced, but why not us? ... We’re excited down at the bottom because we have some guys that can come in and actually produce. To me, those are really good things. That’s what makes it fun. There’s parity in our league. Every win is going to be important and every one is going to matter.”

For Corbett’s team, success will depend on the goaltender. Junior Mark Sinclair should carry the load, and his .915 save percentage last year was one of the more impressive performances in the conference that went under the radar. A year older, Sinclair will need to mature further to keep his team in contention.

“It’s comforting, without a doubt, to know that the guy you’ve got back there has got good experience and has played in a lot of games for you,” Corbett said. “The guys trust him. The guys feel comfortable with him back there. A goalie can win a game for you at any point in time. We’ve been blessed with good goaltending and we’ve been lucky to have good goaltending since my time (began) here. Numbers might not be the most dictating thing, but we’ve always had good goaltending.”

“To have (Sinclair) back there, it’s big for us. It’s big for our team, it’s big for our confidence. When you’re going to be young, there’s going to be mistakes. When you know you’ve got a guy who can bail you out, it makes it very nice.”

Defenseman Kurt Gosselin was a major loss from last year, and along with the departures of John Teets and Cam Knight, Corbett will be leaning on youth to step up on the blue line. If some of the underclassmen can emerge quickly, it will undoubtedly make Sinclair’s life easier. Last season, the Chargers gave up 1,358 shots, third-most in the nation.

Lucas Bahn, a former New Hampshire commit, will slot in immediately to help anchor the defensive unit. Corbett praised his hockey sense, passing and skating abilities. He will be joined by fellow freshmen Tanner Hickey and Max Coyle to add more youth to the defensive pairings.

“Our d-corps, we feel those three freshman defensemen are going to be able to make more plays from the back line that’s really going to be able to help us,” Corbett said. “You need five man offense now, and we’re focusing on that.”

Meanwhile, Corbett hopes for a more up-tempo offense, albeit without a lot of experience.

“It’s going to be by committee, and that’s what we have to look at, for guys to be able to come in and chip in,” Corbett said. “The good thing with some of the departures, we think we upgraded on our skill level. (Gorowsky and Gosselin) were a little higher end and above-average in the WCHA. We feel, as a staff, that we have more skill and more players than a lot of skill and a couple players. We like our group. We think our team speed is going to be able to do it. We like that our offense is going to come from one line after the other. Nobody is going to be able to key in on one guy and every night, it could be a different player. Every night, we’re looking forward to seeing who that’s going to be.”

Freshman forward Josh Latta should play significant minutes this year.

The Chargers opened the season with a tough trip to Massachusetts-Lowell, losing 5-1 on Saturday and 3-1 on Sunday. While it’s a disappointing way to start the season, the difficult matchup will prep the team for the long WCHA slate.

But first, Alabama-Huntsville will head to Nebraska-Omaha Oct. 11-12 for another nonconference test. It will be the last before a run of WCHA games to end the first half. The Chargers also have North Dakota on the schedule to begin January. Corbett prioritizes getting tough opponents on his team’s schedule, not only to increase exposure of his team, but to measure the Chargers against some of college hockey’s best competition.

“We want to be challenged,” Corbett said. “We want to help our league and try to get some games. We’re not afraid to play anybody, but we don’t think these games are out of our realm right now. We like what we can bring. ... It’s still the first few weekends. It’s still going to be sloppy hockey. But we’re going to be energetic. We’re going to be aggressive. It’s fun to come out east and get on the road with the boys, get them all on the same page, get everyone excited where it’s just you and your team.”

If Alabama-Huntsville’s youth movement gets up to speed quickly during the early part of the season, the team could make some notable progress this year.

