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Have you ever been at the Von Braun Center on a Friday or Saturday night when the the Univeristy of Alabama in Huntsville (UAHuntsville) Chargers play a hockey game? Most students at Bob Jones have not. But why is this? Is it because hockey isn’t a “traditional Southern sport” like football?
The Alabama-Huntsville Chargers Men’s Ice Hockey team, commonly referred to as The UAHuntsville Chargers, is the only NCAA Division l team in the Southern United States; this is the reason for Huntsville’s name as “The Hockey Capital of the South.” UAHuntsville has players from not only the United States, but also from Europe and Canada.
Bob Jones counselor Pam Hendrix works the door at the UAHuntsville hockey games and says that she knows about a lot of families that are interested in hockey, but instead of seeing the Chargers, a lot of people go to see The Havoc, where fights often break out. In college hockey, the rules are similar to those of minor-league hockey and those of European hockey leagues when it comes to fighting: a player can be punished by ejection if they start or participate in a fight.
Junior at Bob Jones and Thunder Hockey player, Scott Aaron joked about the reason he goes to the UAHuntsville hockey games. He says that he goes to the hockey games just to watch the massive crowds that rush to the Von Braun Center to see their local college team play. More seriously, he noted, “It’s the best hockey in the south.” Scott is hoping to get a hockey scholarship from UAHuntsville when he graduates from Bob Jones in 2015. He hopes that hockey as a sport will grow in the South while The University of Alabama in Huntsville grows along with it.
If you want to see their growth for yourself, just put on some blue and white and support your local hockey team at their next home game at the Von Braun Center!
(For more information about the UAHuntsville hockey team, their home games, and tickets see the UAHuntsville Chargers’ website: http://www.uahchargers.com/index.aspx?path=mhockey)
