# 2020–21 Alabama–Huntsville Chargers men's ice hockey season

The 2020–21 Alabama–Huntsville Chargers men's ice hockey season was the 36th season of play for the program, the 28th at the Division I level and the 8th in the WCHA conference. The Chargers represented the University of Alabama Huntsville and were coached by Lance West, in his 1st season.
The start of the college hockey season was delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As a result, Alabama–Huntsville's first scheduled game was in mid-November as opposed to early-October, which was the norm.

## Season

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic the entire college ice hockey season was delayed. Because the NCAA had previously announced that all winter sports athletes would retain whatever eligibility they possessed through at least the following year, none of Alabama–Huntsville's players would lose a season of play. However, the NCAA also approved a change in its transfer regulations that would allow players to transfer and play immediately rather than having to sit out a season, as the rules previously required.
Due to the program's financial crisis that nearly prevented the Chargers from fielding a team for this season, as well as the departure of former head coach Mike Corbett, many players transferred to other teams in the offseason. The loss of the experience these players possessed hamstrung the Chargers efforts to improve their record and ended with the team predictably near the bottom of the conference. UAH won only 3 of their 22 games all season but were rescued from a last-place finish by Ferris State winning only one of their games. Despite the few wins, there were some positive signs from the hastily assembled team; freshman Tyrone Bronte led the team in scoring, indicating that the team may be able to recover from its recent struggles if the program's financial stability could be assured.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Josh Astorino | Goaltender | Canada | Left program |
| Austin Beaulieu | Forward | United States | Graduation (Signed with Utah Grizzlies) |
| Max Coyle | Defenseman | Canada | Transferred to Bowling Green |
| Tanner Hickey | Defenseman | Canada | Transferred to Arizona State |
| Liam Izyk | Forward | Canada | Transferred to Boston College |
| Connor James | Defenseman | Canada | Graduation |
| Jack Jeffers | Forward | Canada | Transferred to Lake Superior State |
| Daneel Lategan | Forward | South Africa | Transferred to Alberta |
| Bailey Newton | Defenseman | United Kingdom | Transferred to Western Ontario |
| Sean Rappleyea | Defenseman | United States | Graduation |
| Christian Rajic | Forward | Canada | Transferred to Long Island |
| Teddy Rotenberger | Defenseman | United States | Left program |
| Brandon Salerno | Forward | Canada | Graduation (Signed with Dogs de Cholet) |
| Mark Sinclair | Goaltender | Canada | Transferred to Michigan Tech |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Ayodele Adeniye | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Columbus, OH |
| Jonah Alexander | Forward | Canada | 20 | Toronto, ON |
| Tyrone Bronte | Forward | Australia | 21 | Melbourne, AUS |
| Joshua Corrow | Defenseman | United States | 20 | New Port Richey, FL |
| Noah Finstrom | Forward | United States | 21 | New Baltimore, MI |
| Quinn Green | Forward | United States | 21 | West Chicago, IL |
| Mick Heneghan | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Niles, IL |
| Derek Krall | Goaltender | Canada | 21 | Crofton, BC |
| Josh Martin | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Brownstown, MI |
| Nick Michel | Forward | United States | 21 | Waconia, MN |
| Brian Scoville | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Agawam, MA |
| Bennett Stockdale | Forward | Canada | 21 | Ottawa, ON |
| Frank Vitucci | Forward | United States | 21 | Yardley, PA |
| Conor Witherspoon | Forward | United States | 21 | Metamora, MI |

## Roster

As of October 14, 2020.

## Standings

2020–21 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Standingsvte :
| | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Conference record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | OTW | OTL | 3/SW | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #4 Minnesota State † | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 56 | 15 | 27 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 100 | 46 |
| #14 Lake Superior State * | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 39 | 34 | 29 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 86 | 63 |
| #18 Bowling Green | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 46 | 34 | 31 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 108 | 67 |
| #10 Bemidji State | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 42 | 34 | 29 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 82 | 70 |
| Michigan Tech | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 38 | 35 | 30 | 17 | 12 | 1 | 78 | 63 |
| Northern Michigan | 14 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 40 | 47 | 29 | 11 | 17 | 1 | 79 | 103 |
| Alabama–Huntsville | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 18 | 49 | 22 | 3 | 18 | 1 | 31 | 80 |
| Ferris State | 14 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 28 | 59 | 25 | 1 | 23 | 1 | 55 | 103 |
| Alaska | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Alaska Anchorage | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Championship: March 20, 2021 † indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll ||||||||||||||||||

## Schedule and Results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| November 21 | 6:05 PM | at Robert Morris* | Colonials Arena • Neville Township, Pennsylvania | | McBey | L 2–5 | 0 | 0–1–0 |
| November 22 | 3:05 PM | at Robert Morris* | Colonials Arena • Neville Township, Pennsylvania | | Krall | L 3–4 | 0 | 0–2–0 |
| December 5 | 4:07 PM | at Lake Superior State* | Taffy Abel Arena • Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan | | Fessenden | T 2–2 $^{SOL}$ | 0 | 0–2–1 |
| December 6 | 2:07 PM | at Lake Superior State* | Taffy Abel Arena • Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan | | Krall | L 2–3 | 0 | 0–3–1 |
| January 2 | 3:07 PM | at Michigan Tech | MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan | FloHockey.tv | Fessenden | L 0–4 | 200 | 0–4–1 (0–1–0) |
| January 3 | 1:07 PM | at Michigan Tech | MacInnes Student Ice Arena • Houghton, Michigan | FloHockey.tv | Fessenden | L 1–2 | 200 | 0–5–1 (0–2–0) |
| January 8 | 7:00 PM | vs. Ferris State | Von Braun Center • Huntsville, Alabama | FloHockey.tv | Fessenden | W 5–4 $^{OT}$ | 1,124 | 1–5–1 (1–2–0) |
| January 9 | 7:00 PM | vs. Ferris State | Von Braun Center • Huntsville, Alabama | FloHockey.tv | Fessenden | W 2–0 | 1,228 | 2–5–1 (2–2–0) |
| February 5 | 7:00 PM | vs. Michigan Tech* | Von Braun Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | Fessenden | L 1–3 | 1,433 | 2–6–1 |
| February 6 | 5:00 PM | vs. Michigan Tech* | Von Braun Center • Huntsville, Alabama | | Krall | L 1–4 | 1,373 | 2–7–1 |
| February 11 | 7:07 PM | vs. #3 Minnesota State | Von Braun Center • Huntsville, Alabama | FloHockey.tv | Fessenden | L 1–4 | 888 | 2–8–1 (2–3–0) |
| February 12 | 7:07 PM | vs. Minnesota State | Von Braun Center • Huntsville, Alabama | FloHockey.tv | Krall | L 0–5 | 1,281 | 2–9–1 (2–4–0) |
| February 16 | 3:37 PM | at Northern Michigan | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey.tv | Fessenden | W 3–1 | 0 | 3–9–1 (3–4–0) |
| February 17 | 6:07 PM | at Northern Michigan | Berry Events Center • Marquette, Michigan | FloHockey.tv | Krall | L 2–8 | 0 | 3–10–1 (3–5–0) |
| February 19 | 6:00 PM | at #20 Lake Superior State | Taffy Abel Arena • Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan | FloHockey.tv | Fessenden | L 1–2 | 0 | 3–11–1 (3–6–0) |
| February 20 | 4:00 PM | at #20 Lake Superior State | Taffy Abel Arena • Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan | FloHockey.tv | Fessenden | L 1–4 | 0 | 3–12–1 (3–7–0) |
| February 24 | 6:07 PM | at #13 Bowling Green | Slater Family Ice Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio | FloHockey.tv | Fessenden | L 0–5 | 300 | 3–13–1 (3–8–0) |
| February 28 | 3:07 PM | vs. #13 Bowling Green | Von Braun Center • Huntsville, Alabama | FloHockey.tv | Fessenden | L 2–4 | 1,313 | 3–14–1 (3–9–0) |
| March 6 | 4:07 PM | at #17 Bemidji State | Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota | FloHockey.tv | Fessenden | L 0–2 | 250 | 3–15–1 (3–10–0) |
| March 7 | 2:07 PM | at #17 Bemidji State | Sanford Center • Bemidji, Minnesota | FloHockey.tv | Fessenden | L 0–4 | 250 | 3–16–1 (3–11–0) |
| WCHA Tournament ||||||||||
| March 12 | 6:07 PM | at #18 Lake Superior State* | Taffy Abel Arena • Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan (WCHA Quarterfinals game 1) | | Fessenden | L 1–6 | 0 | 3–17–1 |
| March 13 | 4:07 PM | at #18 Lake Superior State* | Taffy Abel Arena • Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan (WCHA Quarterfinals game 2) | | Fessenden | L 1–4 | 0 | 3–18–1 |
| Alabama–Huntsville Lost Series 0–2 ||||||||||
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Central Time. ||||||||||

## Scoring Statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Tyrone Bronte | C | 22 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 8 |
| Bauer Neudecker | F | 22 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
| Quinn Green | F | 19 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Tyr Thompson | F | 22 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| Dayne Finnson | D | 18 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| Lucas Bahn | D | 22 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Drew Lennon | D | 22 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Adrian Danchenko | F | 20 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 37 |
| Mick Henegan | D | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| Ben Allen | LW | 20 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Connor Merkley | C | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 25 |
| Brian Scoville | D | 22 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 22 |
| Conor Witherspoon | F | 21 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| Bennett Stockdale | RW | 15 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Connor Wood | RW | 22 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 60 |
| Noah Finstrom | F | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Frank Vitucci | F | 19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Josh Martin | D | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Peyton Francis | C | 18 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Joshua Corrow | D | 18 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| George McBey | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jay Powell | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Nick Michel | F | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Derek Krall | G | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jonah Alexander | C | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| David Fessenden | G | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Ayodele Adeniye | D | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| Bench | - | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Total | | | 31 | 53 | 84 | 284 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| David Fessenden | 16 | 897 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 44 | 445 | 1 | .910 | 2.94 |
| Derek Krall | 9 | 401 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 30 | 176 | 0 | .854 | 4.49 |
| George McBey | 1 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 0 | .783 | 15.00 |
| Empty Net | - | 9 | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 22 | 1327 | 3 | 18 | 1 | 80 | 639 | 1 | .889 | 3.62 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR |
| USA Today | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
USCHO did not release a poll in week 20.

## Awards and honors

| Player | Award | Ref |
| Tyrone Bronte | WCHA Rookie Team | |