NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and sites operated by Lockheed Martin and GE Aviation make Huntsville, Ala., a hub for some of the world’s top engineers. Now there is a push to make the city an incubator of hockey talent.

At the center of the effort is the men’s hockey team from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the only N.C.A.A. Division I club in the Southeast. The Chargers have mostly struggled since returning to Division I in 1998, but their influence in Huntsville is starting to get results.

With one local player shining in the N.H.L., another starring for the Chargers and the team enjoying its first competitive season in a decade, Huntsville could be on the verge of a new era in hockey.

“We’re still in building mode, but we like to think we’re good enough right now to be able to turn the corner,” said Chargers Coach Mike Corbett, who joined the program in 2013.