# 2011–12 Alabama–Huntsville Chargers men's ice hockey season

The 2011–12 Alabama–Huntsville Chargers ice hockey team represented the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season. The Chargers were coached by Chris Luongo who was in his second season as head coach. His assistant coaches were Gavin Morgan and Tim Flynn. The Chargers played their home games in the Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center and competed as an independent.
On October 24, 2011, interim UAH President Malcolm Portera announced that the 2011–12 season would be the school's final season competing at the NCAA Division I level, citing financial reasons. The program would be "realigned" as a club team, and the coaches' jobs would be eliminated as of May 31, 2012. New UAH president Dr. Robert Altenkirch reversed the decision after he and school administrators met with local supporters on December 6, 2011. UAH continued to play at the NCAA Division I level for the 2012–13 season. The school set up a campaign to raise funds for the program, with the goal of getting the Chargers into a conference.

## Recruiting

UAH added 9 freshmen for the 2011–12 season, including 7 forwards and 2 defensemen:
| Player | Position | Nationality | Notes |
| Andrew Creppin | Forward | Canada | Orleans, Ontario; all-time leading scorer in Gloucester Rangers history, 2010–11 CCHL First-Team All-Star |
| Tyler Kotlarz | Forward | United States | Hudsonville, Michigan |
| Kyle Lysaght | Forward | United States | Marietta, Georgia |
| Craig Pierce | Forward | United States | Roswell, Georgia; ex-Rochester Stars captain |
| Doug Reid | Forward | Canada | Innisfil, Ontario; ex-Markham Waxers captain |
| Ben Reinhardt | Defenseman | Canada | Arnprior, Ontario; ex-Pembroke Lumber Kings captain, won 5 consecutive CCHL championships and 2010–11 RBC Cup, 2010–11 First-Team All-Star, voted CCHL's 2009–10 Best Defenseman |
| Graeme Strukoff | Defenseman | Canada | Chilliwack, British Columbia |
| Jeff Vanderlugt | Forward | Canada | Richmond Hill, Ontario |
| Michael Webley | Forward | Canada | Stittsville, Ontario; CCHL Sportsmanship and Ability Award winner for 2010–11 |

## Roster
### Departures from 2010–11 team

* Matt Baxter, D – Graduation
* Vince Bruni, F – Graduation
* Ryan Burkholder, D – Graduation
* Trevor Conrad, D
* Keenan Desmet, F — FFHG Division 2 (Evry)
* Cody Dion, F — Suomi-sarja (S-Kiekko)
* Chris Fairbanks, F – Graduation
* Joe Koudys, F – Graduation
* Neil Ruffini, F – Graduation
* David Ruffini, F – Graduation
* David Way, F

### 2011–12 team

As of February 11, 2012

## Regular season
### Schedule

* Green background indicates win.
* Red background indicates loss.
* Yellow background indicates tie.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| October 1 | 7:00 pm | Lake Superior State* | Propst Arena • Huntsville, Alabama | Saunders | L 2–3 | 2,485 | 0–1–0 |
| October 2 | 3:00 pm | Lake Superior State* | Propst Arena • Huntsville, Alabama | Griggs | L 1–2 | 1,060 | 0–2–0 |
| October 7 | 6:05 pm | at #13 Western Michigan* | Lawson Ice Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | Griggs | L 1–7 | 3,229 | 0–3–0 |
| October 8 | 6:05 pm | at #13 Western Michigan* | Lawson Ice Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan | Saunders | L 0–4 | 2,689 | 0–4–0 |
| October 14 | 7:00 pm | Bowling Green* | Propst Arena • Huntsville, Alabama | Saunders | L 1–2 | 1,486 | 0–5–0 |
| October 15 | 7:00 pm | Bowling Green* | Propst Arena • Huntsville, Alabama | Saunders | L 0–3 | 1,358 | 0–6–0 |
| October 21 | 7:00 pm | Air Force* | Propst Arena • Huntsville, Alabama | Saunders | T 1–1 $^{OT}$ | 1,893 | 0–6–1 |
| October 22 | 7:00 pm | Air Force* | Propst Arena • Huntsville, Alabama | Saunders | L 2–7 | 996 | 0–7–1 |
| November 4 | 7:00 pm | Ohio State* | Propst Arena • Huntsville, Alabama | Saunders | L 0–4 | 2,519 | 0–8–1 |
| November 5 | 7:00 pm | Ohio State* | Propst Arena • Huntsville, Alabama | Saunders | L 0–2 | 1,351 | 0–9–1 |
| November 11 | 6:00 pm | at Providence* | Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island | Saunders | L 0–3 | 1,371 | 0–10–1 |
| November 12 | 6:00 pm | at Providence* | Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island | Saunders | L 2–4 | 1,017 | 0–11–1 |
| November 23 | 6:00 pm | at #1 Merrimack* | J. Thom Lawler Arena • North Andover, Massachusetts | Griggs | L 0–6 | 2,489 | 0–12–1 |
| November 25 | 3:00 pm | at UMass Lowell* | Tsongas Center • Lowell, Massachusetts | Saunders | L 0–3 | 2,641 | 0–13–1 |
| November 26 | 6:00 pm | at New Hampshire* | Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire | Groh | L 1–9 | 4,378 | 0–14–1 |
| December 2 | 7:00 pm | Nebraska–Omaha* | Bridgestone Arena • Nashville, Tennessee | Saunders | W 3–1 | 957 | 1–14–1 |
| December 3 | 1:00 pm | Nebraska–Omaha* | Bridgestone Arena • Nashville, Tennessee | Saunders | L 2–6 | 1,364 | 1–15–1 |
| December 9 | 7:35 pm | at Minnesota State* | Verizon Wireless Center • Mankato, Minnesota | Saunders | L 2–4 | 2,421 | 1–16–1 |
| December 10 | 7:05 pm | at Minnesota State* | Verizon Wireless Center • Mankato, Minnesota | Saunders | L 1–9 | 2,472 | 1–17–1 |
| December 16 | 7:35 pm | at Bemidji State* | Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota | Saunders | L 0–3 | 2,556 | 1–18–1 |
| December 17 | 7:05 pm | at Bemidji State* | Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota | Saunders | L 0–5 | 3,256 | 1–19–1 |
| December 30 | 7:00 pm | Mercyhurst* | Propst Arena • Huntsville, Alabama | Saunders | L 1–5 | 1,056 | 1–20–1 |
| December 31 | 3:00 pm | Mercyhurst* | Propst Arena • Huntsville, Alabama | Saunders | L 3–4 | 1,062 | 1–21–1 |
| January 6 | 8:35 pm | at #11 Denver* | Magness Arena • Denver | Saunders | W 3–2 | 4,842 | 2–21–1 |
| January 7 | 8:05 pm | at #11 Denver* | Magness Arena • Denver | Saunders | L 2–5 | 5,123 | 2–22–1 |
| January 20 | 7:05 pm | at #1 Minnesota–Duluth* | Amsoil Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | Saunders | L 1–2 | 6,614 | 2–23–1 |
| January 21 | 7:05 pm | at #1 Minnesota–Duluth* | Amsoil Arena • Duluth, Minnesota | Saunders | L 3–4 | 6,757 | 2–24–1 |
| February 3 | 6:00 pm | at #15 Maine* | Alfond Arena • Orono, Maine | Saunders | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 3,987 | 2–25–1 |
| February 4 | 6:00 pm | at #15 Maine* | Alfond Arena • Orono, Maine | Saunders | L 0–5 | 4,400 | 2–26–1 |
| February 10 | 6:35 pm | at #20 Miami (OH)* | Steve Cady Arena • Oxford, Ohio | Saunders | L 1–3 | 2,667 | 2–27–1 |
| February 11 | 6:05 pm | at #20 Miami (OH)* | Steve Cady Arena • Oxford, Ohio | Saunders | L 1–4 | 2,781 | 2–28–1 |
| February 24 | 7:00 pm | US Under-18 Team* | Propst Arena • Huntsville, Alabama (Exhibition) | Saunders | L 2–3 | 1,105 | 2–28–1 |
| February 25 | 3:00 pm | US Under-18 Team* | Propst Arena • Huntsville, Alabama (Exhibition) | Griggs | L 3–6 | 1,089 | 2–28–1 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Central Time. Source: ||||||||

### Opponents by conference

| Conference | Teams |
| CCHA | 5 (Bowling Green, Lake Superior State, Miami (OH), Ohio State, Western Michigan) |
| Hockey East | 5 (Maine, Merrimack, New Hampshire, Providence, UMass Lowell) |
| WCHA | 5 (Bemidji State, Denver, Minnesota–Duluth, Minnesota State, Nebraska–Omaha) |
| Atlantic Hockey | 2 (Air Force, Mercyhurst) |
| ECAC | 0 |

## Player stats

As of February 11, 2012

### Skaters

| Player | Pos | Yr | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Kyle Lysaght | F | Fr | 31 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Mac Roy | F | So | 30 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Justin Cseter | F | Jr | 31 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lasse Uusivirta | D | So | 29 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Durnie | D | Sr | 26 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Sebastian Geoffrion | F | Jr | 30 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 61 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Alex Allan | F | So | 30 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Graeme Strukoff | D | Fr | 31 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 71 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Curtis deBruyn | D | Jr | 31 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jamie Easton | F | Sr | 31 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Michael Webley | F | Fr | 25 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeff Vanderlugt | F | Fr | 27 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Craig Pierce | F | Fr | 25 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tyler Kotlarz | F | Fr | 24 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andrew Creppin | F | Fr | 26 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Reid | F | Fr | 30 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Reinhardt | D | Fr | 31 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brice Geoffrion | F | So | 31 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nickolas Gatt | D | So | 25 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C.J. Groh | G | So | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Griggs | G | Jr | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mat Hagen | D | So | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clarke Saunders | G | So | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team | | | 31 | 37 | 61 | 98 | 420 | 9 | 1 | 2 |

### Goaltenders

| Player | Yr | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SV | SV% | SO |
| Clarke Saunders | So | 27 | 1534 | 2 | 23 | 1 | 95 | 3.72 | 918 | 0.906 | 0 |
| John Griggs | Jr | 6 | 242 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 4.96 | 103 | 0.837 | 0 |
| C.J. Groh | So | 2 | 80 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 6.75 | 36 | 0.800 | 0 |