HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Money will no longer be an issue to save the hockey program at the University of Alabama in Huntsville because of additional last-minute donors, a state legislator says he has been told.

In fact, Rep. Phil Williams, R-Monrovia, said today he has separate meetings scheduled with Gov. Robert Bentley and new UAH President Dr. Robert Altenkirch to discuss salvaging the program.

UAH announced last month that its NCAA Division I hockey program would be scrapped after this season and that the school would instead field a club team. Dr. Malcolm Portera, chancellor of the University of Alabama System who was serving as interim president at UAH when the decision was announced, said the $1.5 million annual expense was too rich for the school to support.

Williams today, however, said a group of private donors had come to the Save UAH Hockey support group with the promise of providing enough money to fully subsidize the program for three years.

The Save UAH Hockey group has gone to Williams to help their cause. Williams described himself today as "maybe the only UAH graduate in the legislature."

"Concerning hockey, there are some new developments," Williams said. "There are some folks we believe that are willing to make the financial portion of this decision go away."

Williams said he did not know the identity of the donors, only that some are in Huntsville and some are out of town.

"I am trying to really expedite these individuals who say they will write the check to write the check and be willing to meet with the new president and say if this is just a financial situation, could this cause us to reconsider given this late-breaking information," Williams said.

Read more in Thursday's Huntsville Times

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