Huntsville Channel Cats
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| Huntsville Channel Cats | |
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| Founded | 1995 |
| Folded | 2003 |
| Home Ice | Von Braun Center |
| Based in | Huntsville, Alabama |
| Colors | teal, black, and white |
| League | Southern Hockey League (1995-96) Central Hockey League (1996-2001) South East Hockey League (2003-04) |
The Huntsville Channel Cats were a minor-league professional ice hockey team based in Huntsville, Alabama. They played home games in the Von Braun Center arena. For the 2000-01 season, they changed their name to the Huntsville Tornado, a reference to the tornado that struck South Huntsville in 1989.
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[edit] History
The Huntsville Blast first brought hockey to Huntsville in the 1993-94 season. John Cherney, a local businessman, brought a new franchise to town, to join the newly-expanded Southern Hockey League in 1995. The team won the championship that year, but the league folded at the end of the season. For the 96-97 season, the team joined the Central Hockey League, and played in its Eastern division. The Cats won the 1998-99 championship, completing their best season as a franchise.
The following seasons saw many fan favorites leave the team, and the drop down the standings caused a drop in attendance. Amid concerns over sharing arena space with the UAH Chargers hockey team and the new NBDL basketball team, as well as the CHL's desire to contract to more South-Central US markets, the team did not compete in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. Cherney threatened to move the team to Madison, a suburb of Huntsville, if he did not get the dates he wanted, but to no avail.
[edit] Short-Lived Rebirth
In 2002, Cherney became involved in the new Atlantic Coast Hockey League. The league was split at the end of the 02-03 season into the WHA2 and the Cherney-led South East Hockey League. Cherney resurrected the Channel Cats to play in his new league. The Cats rolled to the regular-season and playoff championships in the 4-team league.
Following the season, both the SEHL and WHA2 fell into disarray. Keith Jeffries, president of HSV Sports, LLC (who operate the local Vipers af2 franchise) made a bid to have a hockey team in the upstart Eastern Hockey League (later to be renamed the Southern Professional Hockey League), joining teams from the now-defunct WHA2. The Von Braun Center, home ice for the Cats, chose to accept the new franchise over the Cats, bringing an end to the Channel Cats name. The other teams from the SEHL followed Huntsville's lead and joined the SPHL as well. The new franchise would be named the Huntsville Havoc, and would successfully carry on the legacy of pro hockey in Huntsville.
[edit] Championships
| Year | League | Trophy |
|---|---|---|
| 1995-1996 | SHL | President's Cup |
| 1998-1999 | CHL | Ray Miron President's Cup |
| 2003-2004 | SEHL | President's Championship Cup |
[edit] Year-by-Year Record
| Year | League | GP | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | Pct | GF | GA | PIM | Coach | Result |
| 1995-96 | SHL | 60 | 25 | 31 | 2 | 0 | 56 | 0.467 | 274 | 294 | 2191 | Larry Floyd | Won Championship |
| 1996-97 | CHL-East | 66 | 39 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 81 | 0.614 | 311 | 297 | 2111 | Larry Floyd | Won division title lost in round 2 |
| 1997-98 | CHL-East | 70 | 40 | 22 | 8 | 0 | 88 | 0.629 | 333 | 281 | 2374 | Larry Floyd | lost in round 1 |
| 1998-99 | CHL-East | 70 | 47 | 19 | 0 | 4 | 98 | 0.671 | 310 | 251 | 2313 | Chris Stewart | Won division title Won Championship |
| 1999-00 | CHL-East | 70 | 37 | 27 | 0 | 6 | 80 | 0.529 | 242 | 244 | 2350 | Pat Bingham | Lost in round 1 |
| 2000-01 (Tornado) |
CHL-East | 70 | 31 | 36 | 0 | 3 | 65 | 0.443 | 217 | 275 | 1972 | Craig Coxe (52 games) Kent Hawley (18 games) |
no postseason |
| 2003-04 | SEHL | 56 | 43 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 0.768 | 233 | 164 | 1671 | John Gibson | Won season title Won Championship |
[edit] Retired numbers
- 30 Derek Puppa; G; UAH 1992-96, Channel Cats 1996-99
- 23 John Gibson; D; 1995-00
- 21 Phil Daigle; C; 1995-01
- 17 Chris George; RW; 1996-01
- 33 Mike Degurse; LW; Channel Cats 1996-00, 03-04, Havoc 04-06 [1]
[edit] Team Records
[edit] Single-season
- Goals: 65 Chris George (98-99)
- Assists: 92 Jonathan DuBois (97-98)
- Points: 129 Jonathan DuBois (97-98)
- Penalty Minutes: 346 Mike Degurse (97-98)
- GAA: 2.74 Matt Carmichael (03-04)
- SV%: .922 Matt Carmichael (03-04)
[edit] Career
- Career Goals: 234 Chris George
- Career Assists: 323 Jonathan DuBois
- Career Points: 453 Jonathan DuBois
- Career Penalty Minutes: 1312 Mike Degurse
- Career Goaltending Wins: 66 Matt Carmichael
- Career Shutouts: 3 Brent Belecki
- Career Games: 333 Chris George
