1995–96 Alabama–Huntsville Chargers men's ice hockey season American college ice hockey team season
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]
No. S/P/C
Player
Class
Pos
Height
Weight
DoB
Hometown
Previous team
1
Cédrick Billequey Freshman
G 6' 0" (1.83 m)
160 lb (73 kg)
1975-03-10
Montreal , Quebec
3
Scott Usmail Junior
D 5' 11" (1.8 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
1973-11-08
New Hartford, New York
4
Steve Borko Senior
D 6' 5" (1.96 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
1971-01-11
Schaumburg, Illinois Des Moines (USHL
5
Taso Sofikitis Senior
D 5' 10" (1.78 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
1971-03-01
Vancouver, British Columbia Bellingham (BCJHL
6
Marc Macera Senior
D 5' 11" (1.8 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
1971-12-20
London, Ontario
7
Brad Dame Senior
D 6' 0" (1.83 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
1972-01-31
Windsor, Ontario Windsor (WOHL
8
Sheldon Wolitski Senior
D 5' 11" (1.8 m)
188 lb (85 kg)
1972-07-12
St. Albert, Alberta
9
Joe Provenzano Freshman
D 6' 1" (1.85 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
1975-03-29
Grosse Pointe, Michigan Des Moines (USHL
10
Darren Awender Sophomore
C 5' 8" (1.73 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
St. Clair Beach, Ontario Leamington (WOHL
11
John Barrett Freshman
F
London, Ontario
12
Ryan Wood Senior
RW 5' 11" (1.8 m)
197 lb (89 kg)
1971-09-28
Morden, Manitoba Winkler (MJHL
13
Levi Hall Freshman
D 6' 3" (1.91 m)
200 lb (91 kg)
1975-06-04
Kenai, Alaska Wisconsin (USHL
14
Matt Parker Sophomore
LW 5' 10" (1.78 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
1975-07-28
Huntsville, Alabama
15
Paul Schloss Freshman
LW 5' 10" (1.78 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Livonia, Michigan
16
Tony Guzzo Junior
C 5' 10" (1.78 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
Canton, Michigan
17
Wade Tulk Senior
C 5' 10" (1.78 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
1971-09-23
St. Catharines, Ontario Massena (CJHL
18
Mario Mazzuca Senior
LW 6' 0" (1.83 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
1971-11-13
Dearborn, Michigan
19
Mike Hamlin Freshman
RW 6' 0" (1.83 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Flint, Michigan
20
Eric Bilyeu Junior
LW 5' 9" (1.75 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
1973-03-22
St. Joseph, Michigan
21
K. C. Schneider Junior
RW 5' 11" (1.8 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Indianapolis, Indiana
22
Jamie Baby Freshman
C 6' 1" (1.85 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Parry Sound, Ontario Muskoka (MetJHL
24
Chris Price Freshman
LW 6' 2" (1.88 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
Naperville, Illinois Springfield (NAHL
25
John McCabe Sophomore
LW 6' 4" (1.93 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
1974-05-30
Espanola, Ontario
27
Ryan Stewart Sophomore
RW 5' 10" (1.78 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
Bowmanville, Ontario Danville (NAHL
29
Ryan Gillespie Freshman
F
Franklin, Tennessee
30
Derek Puppa Senior
G 5' 9" (1.75 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
1972-02-18
Kirkland Lake, Ontario
35
Mike 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. [ 6] [ 5]
Player stats
[ 5]
Skaters
Player
Mario Mazzuca LW
Sr
27
30
22
52
60
12
2
3
Tony Guzzo C
Jr
27
13
34
47
8
3
0
6
Ryan Wood RW
Sr
26
20
25
45
62
9
2
1
Shledon Wolitski D
Sr
27
11
27
38
42
4
0
1
Taso Sofikitis D
Sr
27
10
26
36
20
6
0
0
Wade Tulk C
Sr
26
12
13
25
46
3
0
2
K. C. Schneider RW
Jr
27
16
7
23
6
1
2
2
Jamie Baby C
Fr
27
8
14
22
18
0
0
0
Eric Bilyeu LW
Jr
27
10
10
20
33
0
1
1
Matt Parker LW
So
26
7
12
19
20
0
0
0
Mike Hamlin RW
Fr
27
7
10
17
26
2
1
2
John McCabe LW
So
23
8
6
14
20
2
0
1
Darren Awender C
So
25
3
11
14
8
0
0
1
Brad Dame D
Sr
27
2
12
14
24
2
0
0
Mark Macera D
Sr
26
3
8
11
65
2
0
0
Scott Usmail D
Sr
26
4
5
9
38
0
0
0
Paul Schloss LW
Fr
24
5
3
8
10
0
0
1
Chris Price LW
Fr
2
1
3
4
2
0
0
0
Ryan Stewart RW
So
7
1
3
4
2
0
0
0
Joe Provenzano D
Fr
18
0
2
2
8
0
0
0
Team 27 172 261 433 548 46 8 24
Goaltenders
Player
Derek Puppa Sr
25
1316:10
21
0
3
37
1.69
.936
3
Mike Zeller So
6
229:44
3
0
0
7
1.83
.929
0
Cédrick Billequey Fr
4
89:06
0
0
0
1
0.67
.964
0
References
^ Times Editorial Staff (March 11, 1996). "Guess who's No. 1?". The Huntsville Times . pp. B4. ^ Marshall, Mike (March 11, 1996). "New arena, Division I may be in cards for national champs". The Huntsville Times . pp. B4. ^ "1995-96 U. of Alabama-Huntsville (NCAA) roster and player statistics" . HockeyDB.com. Retrieved December 1, 2009 .^ "Univ. of Alabama-Huntsville 1995 - 1996 Team Roster" . Elite Prospects . Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 7, 2015 .^ a b c Napier, Michael A. "Final 1996 Men's Ice Hockey Statistics Report" (PDF) . University of Alabama in Huntsville. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 7, 2015 . ^ "Hockey All-Time Results" . University of Alabama in Huntsville. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 7, 2015 .
