# 1996–97 Alabama–Huntsville Chargers men's ice hockey season

The 1996–97 Alabama–Huntsville Chargers ice hockey team represented the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the 1996–97 NCAA Division II men's hockey season. The team was coached by Doug Ross, who was in his 15th season as head coach, and played their home games at the Von Braun Civic Center.
The Chargers entered the season as the defending Division II National Champions, having defeated Bemidji State in the national championship series. UAH finished the regular season with 20 wins and 6 losses, including wins over Division I teams Air Force and Mankato State. At the end of the season, UAH played in the Division II National Championship in a rematch with Bemidji State. The Chargers lost the two games in Bemidji, Minnesota, by scores of 2–3 and 2–4.

## Schedule and results

* Green background indicates win.
* Red background indicates loss.
* Yellow background indicates tie.
| Date | Opponent | Site | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Exhibition |||||||
| October 25 | Penn State* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama (Exhibition) | Zeller | W 15–0 | n/a | — |
| October 26 | Penn State* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama (Exhibition) | Billequey | W 3–1 | n/a | — |
| Regular Season |||||||
| November 1 | at Maine* | Alfond Arena • Orono, Maine | | L 2–7 | 4,925 | 0–1–0 |
| November 2 | at Maine* | Alfond Arena • Orono, Maine | | L 1–5 | 5,017 | 0–2–0 |
| November 15 | St. Mary's (MN)* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 7–3 | 2,286 | 1–2–0 |
| November 16 | St. Mary's (MN)* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 7–1 | 1,899 | 2–2–0 |
| November 22 | Potsdam* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 11–6 | 2,306 | 3–2–0 |
| November 23 | Potsdam* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 6–4 | 1,252 | 4–2–0 |
| November 29 | Connecticut* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 6–3 | 2,296 | 5–2–0 |
| November 30 | Connecticut* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 5–4 | 2,016 | 6–2–0 |
| December 13 | Salem State* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | L 2–4 | 2,066 | 6–3–0 |
| December 14 | Salem State* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 8–4 | 1,300 | 7–3–0 |
| December 29 | New England College* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 3–2 | 1,558 | 8–3–0 |
| December 30 | New England College* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 13–2 | 1,764 | 9–3–0 |
| January 4 | vs. American International* | Lansing Chapman Rink • Williamstown, Massachusetts (Western Mass. Men's Ice Hockey Classic) | | W 6–1 | 100 | 10–3–0 |
| January 5 | at Williams* | Lansing Chapman Rink • Williamstown, Massachusetts (Western Mass. Men's Ice Hockey Classic) | | W 9–4 | 100 | 11–3–0 |
| January 10 | Bentley* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | Billequey | W 9–0 | 574 | 12–3–0 |
| January 11 | Bentley* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 7–3 | 1,007 | 13–3–0 |
| January 24 | at Air Force* | Cadet Ice Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | | W 5–4 | 1,579 | 14–3–0 |
| January 25 | at Air Force* | Cadet Ice Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | | W 4–2 | 2,256 | 15–3–0 |
| January 31 | Villanova* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | Billequey | W 9–0 | 4,892 | 16–3–0 |
| February 1 | Villanova* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 14–1 | 1,288 | 17–3–0 |
| February 7 | Minnesota–Crookston* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 5–1 | 3,280 | 18–3–0 |
| February 8 | Minnesota–Crookston* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 11–1 | 3,013 | 19–3–0 |
| February 14 | Mankato State* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | L 1–3 | 2,765 | 19–4–0 |
| February 15 | Mankato State* | Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | W 6–3 | 2,043 | 20–4–0 |
| February 28 | at Mankato State* | Mankato Civic Center • Mankato, Minnesota | | L 2–5 | 2,542 | 20–5–0 |
| March 1 | at Mankato State* | Mankato Civic Center • Mankato, Minnesota | | L 2–8 | 2,806 | 20–6–0 |
| NCAA Division II Championship Series |||||||
| March 14 | at Bemidji State* | John S. Glas Field House • Bemidji, Minnesota | | L 2–3 | 2,950 | 20–7–0 |
| March 15 | at Bemidji State* | John S. Glas Field House • Bemidji, Minnesota | | L 2–4 | 3,150 | 20–8–0 |
| *Non-conference game. Sources: |||||||

## Player stats
### Skaters

| Player | Pos | Yr | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| K. C. Schneider | RW | Sr | 28 | 19 | 30 | 49 | 30 | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| Tony Guzzo | C | Sr | 28 | 16 | 32 | 48 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Matt Parker | LW | Jr | 28 | 18 | 26 | 44 | 79 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| Mike Hamiln | RW | So | 28 | 15 | 17 | 32 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Jim Alauria | D | So | 28 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 85 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Shane Stewart | D | Fr | 28 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 70 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| John McCabe | LW | Jr | 28 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Jay Woodcroft | C | Fr | 27 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Eric Bilyeu | LW | Sr | 28 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 34 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Nathan Bowen | LW | Fr | 25 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Williams | RW | Fr | 24 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 46 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Jamie Baby | C | So | 20 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Paul Schloss | RW | So | 25 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mark Motowski | D | So | 28 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Marc Lalonde | D | Fr | 27 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Provenzano | D | So | 27 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darren Awender | C | Jr | 28 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Derek Young | D | Fr | 10 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Mucciarone | D | Jr | 19 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Stewart | RW | So | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team | | | 28 | 165 | 263 | 428 | 670 | 51 | 14 | 20 |

### Goaltenders

| Player | Yr | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SV% | SO |
| Cédrick Billequey | So | 22 | 1166:23 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 55 | 2.83 | .892 | 2 |
| Mike Zeller | Jr | 10 | 418:48 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 3.72 | .841 | 0 |
| Andrew Weeks | Fr | 3 | 92:07 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3.26 | .865 | 0 |