Huntsville, Alabama and hockey: A 50-year affair on ice

The “Hockey Capital of the South”

It’s not just a phrase then-Gov. George Wallace proclaimed in 1986 for Huntsville. It’s an honor earned.

After all, there’s been organized hockey in Huntsville for more than 50 years.

A hockey program commemorating the 1974 youth hockey season.

Yes, more than 50 years.

Besides also having the only NCAA Division I hockey program south of the Mason Dixon Line, here are a few other reasons why  it’s hard to argue with the nickname:

• The UAH Chargers won three straight national club hockey championships in 1982-83-84.
• The Chargers won NCAA Division II national championships in 1996 and 1998.
• The Chargers were in the NCAA Division I national hockey championship tournament twice (2007 and 2010) and the Division II tournament four times.
• The Huntsville Channel Cats won the Southern Hockey League championship in 1996.
• The Channel Cats won the Central Hockey League championship in 1996.
• The Channel Cats won the South East Hockey League championship in 2004.
• The Huntsville Havoc won the Southern Professional Hockey League championship in 2011.
• In 1996, when the Cats and UAH won their championships, Huntsville became the first American city to win a professional and NCAA ice hockey championship in the same season – and still is.
• The NHL’s Nashville Predators played their first-ever game – an exhibition game – in Huntsville, not Nashville.

It all started at the Ice Palace

And it all started in 1962 at a little rink just off Governors Drive, then-known as Fifth Avenue, when one Sunday afternoon a mom wanted a dad to take the boys skating because they were “kinda driving us crazy.”

Fred Hudson, considered the father of Huntsville Hockey is shown giving instruction to one of Huntsville’s earlist hockey players.

Fred Hudson got the boys in the car and drove to the Ice Palace, which was owned by Ben Wilcoxen, whose name is on Huntsville’s Municipal Ice Complex.

“It had been a while since I skated but I guess I looked like I knew what I was doing doing because Ben asked me if I had been a hockey player,” said Hudson, a Connecticut native. “He asked if I had interest in starting a youth hockey program.”

Wilcoxen wanted the YMCA involved, Hudson said.

By Monday, Y Director Lawrence Cross had 60 kids signed up to play hockey.

Hudson said he was prepared to have the kids wear work gloves and rolled-up magazines as shin guards. But Cross had a stack of catalogs and told Hudson to pick out what he needed.

So, the first Huntsville hockey players had the finest equipment available in 1962 and were ready for their first practice.

“The 60 kids had their equipment and we had about 60 ‘coaches’ show up,” Hudson said.

But, just because they had top-of-the-line gear, well …

“I had them lined up and blew the whistle,” Hudson said.

About half of them fell.

Just one player skated to the other end of the ice; he was the son of a Canadian soldier stationed at Redstone Arsenal.

Hudson devised some drills and eventually the kids were playing hockey.

The players were fast learners and, two years later, the program was invited to an international youth hockey tournament – the Silver Stick.

Soon after, Huntsville was asked to host a Silver Stick tournament and still does.

But, the program outgrew the YMCA, mainly because of the expense of running ice hockey teams. Ed Ragland, a local businessman and a member of the YMCA board, got the ball – or, puck – rolling for a separate organization to run hockey.

The Huntsville Amateur Hockey Association was born.

Huntsville’s youth hockey program produced several players that moved on to higher levels.

HAHA became a dominant youth hockey organization in the South and produced talented players, some who would be the founders of a program that would become synonymous with hockey in the South – the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

The UAH Chargers

One night in 1978, the Von Braun Civic Center hosted a college club hockey game that included Vanderbilt University. In the audience, were Wayne Zeek and Joe Ritch, both alumni of HAHA.

Not overly impressed with the talent on the ice, Zeek told Ritch that Huntsville can have club hockey and probably be successful.

Ritch, a local attorney and UAH graduate, got the university to back a club program that took the ice in 1979 and was in the Southern Collegiate Hockey Association. Zeek was a goalie on the team and Ritch was the coach.

The first Chargers team was made up primarily of Huntsville players, several who had played hockey in college elsewhere. Other players were among those who had moved here from Michigan and elsewhere.

Though the Chargers lost their first home game – “We were more concerned about how we looked in front of our families,” Zeek said – they rolled through the SCHA and won the championship.

The Chargers, with basically the same lineup, repeated as SCHA champions the next season after destroying the “competition” by a nearly 9-1 margin in every game.

Ritch beefed up the team’s schedule in 1981, playing schools such as Illinois, Illinois State, Duke, North Carolina and others, along with its SCHA schedule that included Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Auburn. To play the harder schedule, he “recruited” players by placing an ad in “The Hockey News.”

The response was amazing and so was the team. The Chargers featured a lineup with players from Michigan, the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta, as well as a core of Huntsville players.

Nicknamed the “Von Braun Bullies” for their physical, intimidating style, the Chargers again rolled through their schedule and were invited to the Jofa Invitational National Club Championship tournament in Boulder, CO. They would face the likes of Penn State, Northern Arizona, SMU, Colorado and Marquette – and they would go through undefeated, capped off by a 14-2 smashing of SMU in the championship game.

The UAH administration saw it had something good on its plate and Ritch suggested the school find an “actual” hockey coach. The seeds were being sown for the Chargers to go varsity.

Real college hockey

Doug Ross, the coach of Kent State and a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic hockey team, answered an ad in, yep, “The Hockey News” for the UAH coach’s position.

Ross moved the team out of the SCHA and into the Central States Collegiate Hockey League. The competition was tougher and UAH lost in the championship game. However, the Chargers repeated as national club hockey champions by winning the national tournament. They made it three in a row by winning the 1984 tournament.

In 1985, the Chargers went varsity and joined the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The school’s other teams belonged to the NAIA, so it was a natural fit.

However, the NCAA is the way to go and UAH became a Division I program in the 1986-87 season. But, there was no conference and the team struggled as an independent for several years before the NCAA established Division II hockey in 1992.

Here, the Chargers flourished. They reached the Division II national tournament four times over the next six years, winning the national championship twice and runner-up the other two times.

The pro game comes calling

Seeing the success of hockey on the college level, the East Coast Hockey League started the Huntsville Blast in the 1993 season. The team lasted only a year because the ownership was not local and not involved but it sparked local business leaders to bring another minor league team to Huntsville.

The Huntsville Channel Cats came about in 1995 when two Knoxville men placed a team in Huntsville in the newly formed Southern Hockey League. The Cats had a rambunctious style of play and won the SHL championship.

However, the SHL folded and Huntsville moved into the Central Hockey League – one of the most respected and known minor league.

The Cats played four seasons in the CHL, winning the championship in the 1998-99 season.

Huntsville had a franchise the following season, but new ownership changed the name to the Tornado and that team lasted just the 2000-01 season and the Rocket City was without pro hockey for the next two years.

NCAA Division I

Meanwhile, UAH had moved up to Division I and was a founding member of College Hockey America, a six-team league. The Chargers won the CHA regular season title in 2000 and 2003 but did not win the league tournament which included an automatic bid to the NCAA national championship tournament.

However, UAH won the league tournament in 2006-07 and faced Notre Dame in the first round of the national tournament, falling 3-2 to the top-ranked Irish in double overtime.

The Chargers won the last CHA tournament in 2009-10, the league was folding, and advanced to the NCAA tournament, only to lose to top-ranked Miami 2-1.

UAH is now in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, which includes long-time rival Bemidji State.

The Havoc is born

After the Channel Cats and the SEHL folded following the 2003-04 season, Keith Jeffries, who operated the Cats, started the Havoc in the new Southern Professional Hockey League.

The team is in its 10th season and won the SPHL championship in the 2009-10 season.

The hockey capital

In the meantime, HAHA changed its name to North Alabama Hockey Association and has nearly 600 players in its fold.

There is now a strong youth program called The Thunder which places kids in the junior level of ice hockey.

Huntsville’s hockey program has alway emphasized quality instruction and love of the game.

And it all started at a little rink with a bunch of kids who fell on their faces in the first workout.

“When it started in ’62, I never imagined it would be like this,” said Hudson, the father of Huntsville hockey. “It’s been a fantastic ride.”

Santa militarized? Let's lighten up ..

Reading about some “children’s advocates” claiming that Santa is being “militarized” because he’s escorted by Canadian and U.S. fighter jets while flying to deliver his toys to good girls and boys triggered a few emotions.

On Christmas Eve, before the advent of radar on television, we used to listen to radio reports of Santa flying in from the North Pole.

There was a radio on the counter in our kitchen and we would sit at the table, sipping hot chocolate and eating fresh-baked cookies that would be left for Santa.

If we were lucky, though, and it had snowed, we would enjoy homemade snow cream that Mom had made.

An announcer for the radio station – WDEL out of Wilmington, Del. – would break in to the programming (usually Christmas music, her favorites were Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock”) with updates. We lived across the Delaware River from Wilmington so when he said NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) radar showed Santa was approaching, we knew it was time to go to bed.

We didn’t think anything about the fighter escort except it was like an honor guard for Santa.

And, by the way, regarding these so-called “advocates,” what children are they advocates for and who appointed them?

My kids have done quite well, thank you, and I believe so have millions of us over the years – before we realized we didn’t have “advocates.”

Granted, there are situations where similar groups and associations are needed. Such as Child Advocacy Centers to care for child victims and church-based groups and nonprofit organizations for needy children.

But, come on. Lighten up a little.

Or I’ll have to get my G.I. Joes and show you what militarized is really about.

(Reprinted from The Athens News Courier)

'Three Days at Foster' an eye-opening film

“It’s for real, there is one here.”

That was an eye-opening line in the documentary “Three Days at Foster.”

The “one” refers to Wendell Hudson, the first black basketball player at the University of Alabama, when he was eating in the dining hall.

The film tells the story of integration in the Tide’s athletic program, referencing Foster Auditorium, where former Gov. George Wallace made his famed stand in the “schoolhouse door.”

Foster was also where the basketball team played and students registered for classes.

The writer/director/producer of the film is Athens native Keith Dunnavant. He brought his “little film back to Athens” last week with a showing in Athens State’s Standidge Center Ballroom.

“Foster is a monument to the power of change,” he said.

The “first day” is Wallace’s choreographed stand; the “second day” is the story of Danny Treadwell, the first black player at a predominantly white school – Huntsville’s Butler High in the early 1960s – during the state basketball championship at Foster; and the “third day” is when former Tide running back Wilbur Jackson brings his daughter to the reunion of the 1973 team. Jackson was the first black player to sign a football scholarship with Alabama.

Dunnavant isn’t a stranger to compelling stories. He is a veteran journalist – that’s hard for me to say since he was a stringer for me in 1979 when I was the sports editor at the old Huntsville News and he was barely in high school. Along with his newspaper background, he’s written and edited magazines and books.

His credits include biographies of football icons Paul “Bear” Bryant (“Coach”) and Bart Starr (“America’s Quarterback”) and two other classics about the sport, “The Missing Ring” and “The Fifty-Year Seduction.”

“Three Days” is his first foray into film and it was an 18-month-long project.

It premiered this year, was an official selection of Birmingham’s Sidewalk Film Festival and garnered second place in the documentary category at the All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival.

Key players in the film are the five black players who walked on at Alabama in 1967 when nearly every other team in the SEC was segregated. The group included Dock Rone, the first black player to suit up for the Tide.

“The walk-ons had never been on camera,” Dunnavant said. “This was compelling.”

And, truth be told, so is the film.

(Reprinted from The Athens News Courier)

Springsteen & I: 'Even the noses ...'

In honor of today's re-release of the documentary "Springsteen & I," this is the final installment of a two-part blog recounting the day I met the Boss.

The day had arrived. It was May 11, 1976.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band was to play that night at Auburn's Memorial Coliseum. 

With the previous week's impersonation still in mind, I got ready for the show: Floppy hat, denim shirt, blue jeans, earring, boots, reflective sunglasses and a leather motorcycle jacket borrowed from my fraternity brother Don Kaufman. The jacket, which I didn't wear during the campus walk the week before, was added for the "Born to Run" album cover effect.

My date, Cindy Burland, and I headed to the Coliseum a couple hours before showtime. I was hoping to meet up with Skip Bishop, the student entertainment committee director, and see if he could arrange a meeting after the show with Springsteen. Cindy and I went to the main doors of the building and asked someone there if they knew anyone who could hook us up with Skip.

No luck.

So, we headed back to the concourse in front of the building and waited. A couple minutes later, a student came up and asked "Are you going to play 'New York City Serenade'?"

Wow. He was a real fan. The song was from Springsteen's third album "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle." 

Well, here was my chance to come clean. To tell him, I'm just an Auburn student from Jersey who is a big Springsteen fan.

"Uh, we just might," I answered. "Thank you for asking. Hope you enjoy the show." 

We shook hands; he walked away and Cindy, who was a TKE little sister, gave me such a look. 

A few minutes later, I suggested we walk around to the back of the Coliseum and see if we could find Skip. As we walked there, I noticed a group of guys throwing around a baseball. We got to the back of the building and we noticed they stopped playing and started walking toward us. 

Then, I heard words I will never forget.

"Hey Bruce! Bruce. Look at this."

Gulp.

From the group walked a guy about my size and build, with a beard and long, dark wavy hair. He was wearing a yellow "Bad News Bears" T-shirt, Army fatigue pants and sneakers.

It was Springsteen.

We walked toward each other, he was grinning and I think I was too. We shook hands, looked eye to eye (we were the same height) and, in his gravelly voice, he said, "How ya doin'?"

I answered, "Fine. Thanks."

Then, more words I will never forget. "Look. Even the noses!"

At that, we both turned and looked at a grinning Steven Van Zandt. 

We chatted a little and I asked him if he had heard about the impersonation.

"Yeah," he said. "It's cool. It's cool."

Then, he said he and the band had to get ready for the show but asked if we would like to come backstage afterward.

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

"Cool. See you then. Enjoy the show."

We sat just behind the sound crew, center of the seats with almost every one of my fraternity brothers and their dates. I was hoping Springsteen would live up to their expectations. My expectations? Hell, I just met him. I was set for life.

During the show, he wore a black three-piece suit - minus the tie - which surprised me. But he didn't hold back in his performance. Though there were only about 1,500 to 2,000 people there and the arena was sectioned off to seat about 4,000, he gave the crowd their money's worth - and more.

At one point, during "Spirit in the Night," he left the stage and climbed into the stands. I thought that was part of his performance. And one of the sound crew waved to him, which I thought was interesting. But, after the show, he said he was coming up to try and find me. And that explained the sound guy's wave - he was signalling I was there or, most likely, Springsteen needed to get back on stage. 

Here are links to some songs from the show, filmed in 8mm.

Spirit in the Night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TwswT3VKgI

She's the One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A4GtK9z2uM

10th Avenue Freeze Out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YreeqdgfHm8

Compilation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H9x9RENRCs

After the show, Cindy and I went backstage and caught up with Clarence Clemons, who was truly a big man and seemed quite taken with my date. Also Steve van Zandt and keyboardist Danny Federici stopped by. A few minutes later, Bruce, who had changed out of the three-piece, sweat-soaked suit came out and we talked. "Enjoy the show?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah," I answered.

Danny and Steve left after a couple of minutes but Clarence stayed. I had the Time and Newsweek magazines with Springsteen on the cover and he and Bruce signed them. Unfortunately, the magazines have since been lost. 

In the meantime, as our conversation wound down, Springsteen made a surprise request.

He asked if I wanted to join them on the bus to New Orleans, where they were to play two days later. I was stunned. I paused, still in shock, then answered.

"Um, no thanks, I have classes."

To this day, I can't believe I said that. I was not exactly a top student at the time and this was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity. But I turned it down, nonetheless. 

"That's cool," Springsteen answered. "We have to get ready to go. Nice meeting you, Bud. And you, Cindy."

With that, he and Clarence returned to the dressing room and Cindy and I left, walking back to the TKE house, a couple of spirits in a memorable night.

Springsteen & I: "Fake singer fools students"

Tomorrow, July 30, the documentary "Springsteen & I" will be shown at the Hollywood 18 theaters in Huntsville. It was shown July 22 but is being re-released.
In honor of that occasion, I am putting in writing - for the first time - my own "Springsteen & I" experience.

Years ago, I was told I bore a resemblance to The Boss. You can judge for yourself, that's me in 1976 at the TKE house, front row, third from the left. Next to me is Cindy Burland, who was my date at the Springsteen concert.
So, when it was announced that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band would be playing at Auburn in May, a couple of my TKE fraternity brothers and I came up with the idea of Springsteen visiting the campus before the show.
We figured the perfect place to make the "announcement" was an upcoming "battle of the bands." It also helped that one of my fraternity brothers, Greg Dowdy, was in a band playing that night. Between songs, he told the crowd there was a rumor Springsteen was going to be on campus a couple days before his show to check out the venue.
Now, there was not much of a reaction because his popularity was nowhere near what it is now, particularly in 1976 Auburn, Ala., but there was a little murmur in the crowd.
Next, it was time to plan the visit.
Dexter "Doc" Dunnavant and Don Conner were going to act as my - er, uh, Springsteen's - escorts on campus for the visit on a Friday. Since not a whole lot of Auburn students had heard of Springsteen, let alone know what he looked like, several Tekes and little sisters would be on the Haley Center concourse announce the arrival ("There he is!" "Is it really Springsteen?" "Wow! I can't believe he's here!).

Springsteen on "Born to Run"

Doc, Don and I parked at Toomer's Corner and walked across campus to Haley Center. They were wearing shirts, ties and a vest while I was in jeans, denim shirt and floppy cap. To add to the ensemble, I was wearing an earring borrowed from Jody Hart, a Teke little sister.
As we reached the concourse, the brothers and little sisters went into high gear; a couple of them even brought cameras. Their "excitement" spread among the other Auburn students. Surprisingly, there were actually Springsteen fans and, fortunately, didn't recognize the "fake singer."
Autographs were signed; hands were shook; pictures were taken. I was even invited to a "High-centennial Party" (it was the Bicentennial, remember) by a group of girls. I didn't take them up because I figured the hoax would be exposed by then and didn't want to face a group of angry students.

Not Bruce Springsteen at the beach

The original plan was to walk along the concourse, do the autograph/picture thing and get out of there. But the plan nearly backfired when a student/fan tagged along with us. The four of us ended up walking to the Coliseum, looking it over and then we three planned to head back to the car. Well, by coincidence, the fan was parked by the Coliseum and offered to give us a ride back to Toomer's.
We obligingly accepted and, after the ride and many thanks, we got out of his car, got into ours and headed back to the TKE house.
After a couple of hours, the adrenalin rush subsided and we went about our business - it was, after all, Friday and the weekend was beckoning. We celebrated the successful mission which turned out to be truly memorable and couldn't have been accomplished without everyone's help.
However, little did I know, the best was yet to come.

Tomorrow: Springsteen & I: "Even the noses ..."

Facing frustration

The following blog is in a different tone than previous blogs. The author is a tad frustrated with his job search.

Well, I went and done it. I admitted frustration. And that's because, well, I am frustrated.

You see, it's been nearly 10 months since I was let go by my employer of some 27 years because I didn't have the "skill set" necessary for the new age of media.

Well, that's kind of amazing because here I am blogging, which I do believe is the new age of media. And, the thing is, I - as well as my co-workers who were also tossed to the roadside for the same alleged reason - have been posting online for a few years, as well as the old-fashioned newspaper-style reporting.

But that's another post for another day. 

So, back to the frustration.

I never thought it would take longer than this to find a job. I know I have something to offer and I don't understand why I'm still searching. I touched on this in a May blog about the over-50, underemployed crowd. I did believe that is part of the problem but in subsequent interviews, I was told that age isn't necessarily a factor. In fact, a few companies cherished their veterans.

I'm told, "well, you'd have to take an entry-level position and we really can't do that because you have a lot of experience."

So, let's find the middle ground. Or, hell, I'll take the entry-level job. After all, it is a job. Right now, I'm working for Sports Authority ... in the warehouse ... unloading trucks and moving the products to the sales floor. 

I'm not making anywhere near what I made at The Times, but I'm working. I'm also helping first-time sports families find the right equipment, uniforms, etc., for their young athletes. That's fulfilling in itself. With three boys having played sports, I can provide some advice.

But, I'm a writer. 

I've done free-lance work which is proving difficult to find on a regular basis. There are a lot of free-lance writers out there and a limited amount of work and money.

Meanwhile, the frustration and worry continue to build. There have been tears. Some nights, sleep is impossible.

Will I ever find another writing job? 

Friends try to pick up my spirits, give me hope. "You'll find something." "There's something out there with your name on it." "The right job just hasn't opened yet."

I appreciate their concerns and good wishes. I really do. In fact, I have a lot of people to thank for saying or writing the right thing at the time I needed to hear or read it.

I try to keep positive but still the worry builds and self-doubt creeps in. How long will it be before I do find "the right job"? Will I ever "find something"? Where is that job with my "name on it"?

Frustrating ...

Acts of God

A woman carries her child through a field near the collapsed Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

"... acts of God."
That phrase always left a bad taste in my mouth when it referred to natural disasters.
And particularly after the storms Monday that devastated Oklahoma.
I'm not a biblical scholar by any extent, but I refuse to believe that a loving God would bring such death and destruction upon his children - especially the younger children.
This wasn't an act of God. It was a result of weather systems - nature, thus "natural" disasters.
And now is the time for the rest of God's children to come to the aid of the survivors. There are several ways to help out:

1). The American Red Cross. Cash donations go to provide food and beverages for victims and emergency workers.I can personally vouch for the Red Cross. When my family lost our home in the 1989 tornado that struck Huntsville, the Red Cross provided us with vouchers to buy groceries, clothing and other items. They also offered temporary housing but we fortunately were taken in by my in-laws. To help, you can text REDCROSS to 90999 for a $10 donation to its disaster relief program, donate at www.redcross.org/donation or phone 1-800-REDCROSS.
2.) The Salvation Army. Like the Red Cross, the Salvation Army helps provide meals for victims and emergency workers. You can text STORM to 80888 for a $10 contribution, call 1800-SAL-ARMY, go to www.salvationarmyusa.org/tornado or mail checks to The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 12600, Oklahoma City, OK 73157 and put Oklahoma Tornado Relief on the check.
3). Toomer's for Tuscaloosa. This nonprofit was created in the aftermath of the April 2011 tornadoes that ripped through Alabama when a group of Auburn faithful wanted to help the residents of Tuscaloosa, home of their cross-state rival the University of Alabama. According to the organization's Facebook page, "Our mission has always been to provide material support and relief to the residents of the South and Mid-South affected by the April and May storms of 2011. Any funds collected will be used for the sole purpose of meeting that mission unless otherwise specified in a specific fundraising drive for other locations across the country that have been affected by disaster." The website is www.toomersfortuscaloosa.com. Toomer's for Tuscaloosa will hold a "Stuff the Truck" event Friday at the Old Time Pottery parking lot on Madison Boulevard in Madison. A 14-foot U-Haul truck will be there from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to take items to Oklahoma. For information, contact Connie Campbell at 256-656-5072.

These are just three ways to help out and I encourage everyone to give what they can. Pray, show compassion and care.
Those are true acts of God.