1995–96 Alabama–Huntsville Chargers men's ice hockey season

1995–96 Alabama–Huntsville Chargers men's ice hockey
NCAA Division II National Champions
NCAA Championship Series, W 7–1, 3–0 vs. Bemidji State
Conference Independent
1995–96 record 24–0–3
Head coach Doug Ross (14th year)
Home stadium Von Braun Civic Center

The 1995–96 Alabama–Huntsville Chargers ice hockey team represented the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the 1995–96 NCAA Division II men's hockey season, winning the national championship. It was the school's first NCAA national championship, following club national championships in 1981–82, 1982–83, and 1983–84. The team was coached by Doug Ross, who was in his 14th season as head coach, and played their home games at the Von Braun Civic Center.

The Chargers completed the regular season with 22 wins, zero losses, and 3 ties. They were then invited to play the Bemidji State Beavers in a two-game series to determine the Division II National Championship at Huntsville's Von Braun Civic Center. The Chargers would dominate in both a 7–1 victory on March 8, followed by 3–0 shutout to clinch the championship the following day.[1]

In the weeks following the championship, speculation on plans for a new 4,000-seat arena near the Benton H. Wilcoxon Municipal Iceplex for the Chargers were later abandoned. Additionally, whether or not to move back to Division I became an issue, but UAH would refrain from the jump until 1998.[2]

Roster

[3][4][5]

# S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team
1 Quebec Billequey, CédrickCédrick Billequey Freshman G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1975-03-10 Montreal, Quebec
3 New York Usmail, ScottScott Usmail Junior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1973-11-08 New Hartford, New York
4 Illinois Borko, SteveSteve Borko Senior D 6' 5" (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1971-01-11 Schaumburg, Illinois Des Moines (USHL)
5 British Columbia Sofikitis, TasoTaso Sofikitis Senior D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1971-03-01 Vancouver, British Columbia Bellingham (BCJHL)
6 Ontario Macera, MarcMarc Macera Senior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1971-12-20 London, Ontario
7 Ontario Dame, BradBrad Dame Senior D 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1972-01-31 Windsor, Ontario Windsor (WOHL)
8 Alberta Wolitski, SheldonSheldon Wolitski Senior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 188 lb (85 kg) 1972-07-12 St. Albert, Alberta
9 Michigan Provenzano, JoeJoe Provenzano Freshman D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1975-03-29 Grosse Pointe, Michigan Des Moines (USHL)
10 Ontario Awender, DarrenDarren Awender Sophomore C 5' 8" (1.73 m) 170 lb (77 kg) St. Clair Beach, Ontario Leamington (WOHL)
11 Ontario Barrett, JohnJohn Barrett Freshman F London, Ontario
12 Manitoba Wood, RyanRyan Wood Senior RW 5' 11" (1.8 m) 197 lb (89 kg) 1971-09-28 Morden, Manitoba Winkler (MJHL)
13 Alaska Hall, LeviLevi Hall Freshman D 6' 3" (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1975-06-04 Kenai, Alaska Wisconsin (USHL)
14 Alabama Parker, MattMatt Parker Sophomore LW 5' 10" (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1975-07-28 Huntsville, Alabama
15 Michigan Schloss, PaulPaul Schloss Freshman LW 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Livonia, Michigan
16 Michigan Guzzo, TonyTony Guzzo Junior C 5' 10" (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Canton, Michigan
17 Ontario Tulk, WadeWade Tulk Senior C 5' 10" (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1971-09-23 St. Catharines, Ontario Massena (CJHL)
18 Michigan Mazzuca, MarioMario Mazzuca Senior LW 6' 0" (1.83 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1971-11-13 Dearborn, Michigan
19 Michigan Hamlin, MikeMike Hamlin Freshman RW 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Flint, Michigan
20 Michigan Bilyeu, EricEric Bilyeu Junior LW 5' 9" (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1973-03-22 St. Joseph, Michigan
21 Indiana Schneider, K. C.K. C. Schneider Junior RW 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Indianapolis, Indiana
22 Ontario Baby, JamieJamie Baby Freshman C 6' 1" (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Parry Sound, Ontario Muskoka (MetJHL)
24 Illinois Price, ChrisChris Price Freshman LW 6' 2" (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Naperville, Illinois Springfield (NAHL)
25 Ontario McCabe, JohnJohn McCabe Sophomore LW 6' 4" (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1974-05-30 Espanola, Ontario
27 Ontario Stewart, RyanRyan Stewart Sophomore RW 5' 10" (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Bowmanville, Ontario Danville (NAHL)
29 Tennessee Gillespie, RyanRyan Gillespie Freshman F Franklin, Tennessee
30 Ontario Puppa, DerekDerek Puppa Senior G 5' 9" (1.75 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1972-02-18 Kirkland Lake, Ontario
35 Michigan Zeller, MikeMike Zeller Sophomore G 6' 0" (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Goodrich, Michigan

Regular season

Schedule

Date Opponent Site Decision Result Attendance Record
Regular Season
October 27 St. Norbert* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 5–4  1,908 1–0–0
October 28 St. Norbert* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 4–2  811 2–0–0
November 3 Windsor* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama (Exhibition) Puppa W 7–1  n/a 2–0–0
November 4 Windsor* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama (Exhibition) Puppa W 6–5 OT n/a 2–0–0
November 17 New Hampshire College* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 13–2  3,259 3–0–0
November 18 New Hampshire College* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 7–0  923 4–0–0
November 25 RIT* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 7–3  1,138 5–0–0
November 26 RIT* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama Puppa W 3–0  753 6–0–0
December 1 Augsburg* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 12–1  2,113 7–0–0
December 2 Augsburg* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 13–2  1,001 8–0–0
December 15 St. Scholastica* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama Puppa W 6–0  1,427 9–0–0
December 16 St. Scholastica* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 10–0  916 10–0–0
December 29 St. John's (MN)* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 6–3  1,698 11–0–0
December 30 St. John's (MN)* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 5–3  1,332 12–0–0
January 5 Salem State* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 3–2  2,331 13–0–0
January 6 Salem State* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama Puppa T 3–3 OT 1,307 13–0–1
January 12 Curry* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 16–0  3,595 14–0–1
January 13 Curry* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 20–1  850 15–0–1
January 26 at Mercyhurst* Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania Puppa T 2–2 OT 950 15–0–2
January 27 at Mercyhurst* Mercyhurst Ice Center • Erie, Pennsylvania   W 3–2  1,200 16–0–2
January 28 at Elmira* Murray Athletic Center • Elmira, New York   W 4–2  347 17–0–2
February 10 Minnesota–Crookston* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 4–2  1,500 18–0–2
February 11 Minnesota–Crookston* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 2–1  1,403 19–0–2
February 16 Mankato State* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 4–2  3,756 20–0–2
February 17 Mankato State* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama   W 3–1  2,196 21–0–2
March 1 at Mankato State* Mankato Civic Center • Mankato, Minnesota Puppa T 3–3 OT 2,310 21–0–3
March 2 at Mankato State* Mankato Civic Center • Mankato, Minnesota   W 4–3  2,674 22–0–3
NCAA Division II Championship Series
March 8 Bemidji State* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama Puppa W 7–1  6,126 23–0–3
March 9 Bemidji State* Von Braun Civic Center • Huntsville, Alabama Puppa W 3–0  6,291 24–0–3
*Non-conference game.
Sources:[6][5]

Player stats

[5]

Skaters

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Player Pos Yr GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Mazzuca, MarioMario Mazzuca LW Sr 27 30 22 52 60 12 2 3
Guzzo, TonyTony Guzzo C Jr 27 13 34 47 8 3 0 6
Wood, RyanRyan Wood RW Sr 26 20 25 45 62 9 2 1
Wolitski, ShledonShledon Wolitski D Sr 27 11 27 38 42 4 0 1
Sofikitis, TasoTaso Sofikitis D Sr 27 10 26 36 20 6 0 0
Tulk, WadeWade Tulk C Sr 26 12 13 25 46 3 0 2
Schneider, K. C.K. C. Schneider RW Jr 27 16 7 23 6 1 2 2
Baby, JamieJamie Baby C Fr 27 8 14 22 18 0 0 0
Bilyeu, EricEric Bilyeu LW Jr 27 10 10 20 33 0 1 1
Parker, MattMatt Parker LW So 26 7 12 19 20 0 0 0
Hamlin, MikeMike Hamlin RW Fr 27 7 10 17 26 2 1 2
McCabe, JohnJohn McCabe LW So 23 8 6 14 20 2 0 1
Awender, DarrenDarren Awender C So 25 3 11 14 8 0 0 1
Dame, BradBrad Dame D Sr 27 2 12 14 24 2 0 0
Macera, MarkMark Macera D Sr 26 3 8 11 65 2 0 0
Usmail, ScottScott Usmail D Sr 26 4 5 9 38 0 0 0
Schloss, PaulPaul Schloss LW Fr 24 5 3 8 10 0 0 1
Price, ChrisChris Price LW Fr 2 1 3 4 2 0 0 0
Stewart, RyanRyan Stewart RW So 7 1 3 4 2 0 0 0
Provenzano, JoeJoe Provenzano D Fr 18 0 2 2 8 0 0 0
Team 27 172 261 433 548 46 8 24

Goaltenders

Player Yr GP TOI W L T GA GAA SV% SO
Puppa, DerekDerek Puppa Sr 25 1316:10 21 0 3 37 1.69 .936 3
Zeller, MikeMike Zeller So 6 229:44 3 0 0 7 1.83 .929 0
Billequey, CédrickCédrick Billequey Fr 4 89:06 0 0 0 1 0.67 .964 0

References

  1. ↑ Times Editorial Staff (March 11, 1996). "Guess who's No. 1?". The Huntsville Times. pp. B4.
  2. ↑ Marshall, Mike (March 11, 1996). "New arena, Division I may be in cards for national champs". The Huntsville Times. pp. B4.
  3. ↑ "1995-96 U. of Alabama-Huntsville (NCAA) roster and player statistics". HockeyDB.com. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Univ. of Alabama-Huntsville 1995 - 1996 Team Roster". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on March 7, 2015. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Napier, Michael A. "Final 1996 Men's Ice Hockey Statistics Report" (PDF). University of Alabama in Huntsville. Archived from the original on March 7, 2015. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Hockey All-Time Results". University of Alabama in Huntsville. Archived from the original on March 7, 2015. Retrieved March 7, 2015.