Founding and club championships Despite being a Southern city that might be considered unfamiliar with a winter sport such as hockey, Huntsville was, beginning in the 1950s, and still is to date, home to a large number of Northern-born (and possibly some Canadian) civilian professionals working in the aerospace and defense industries, and officers and enlisted people in the U.S. Army, who desired a taste of home in their sports allegiances. Even though a similar demographic in the
Atlanta market failed to make an
NHL team (the
Flames) profitable in the 1970s (leading to its 1980 move to
Calgary, Alberta), Huntsville proved to be a different case entirely in this regard. UAH, with which a fair number of the transplants had an institutional affiliation, was a convenient forum for their enthusiasm. The UAH ice hockey program began as a club team in the late 1970s. Joe Ritch organized the inaugural Charger team in 1979, and served as head coach. UAH defeated
Emory University 11–4 in its first game on October 26, 1979. UAH won the
final CHA tournament in 2010, beating Niagara 3–2 in overtime for its second berth in the
Division I tournament. The Chargers lost to top-ranked Miami 2–1 at the Midwest Regional in Fort Wayne, Ind. Assistant
Chris Luongo was promoted to head coach as the Chargers became the lone independent program in Division I. New UAH president Dr.
Robert Altenkirch reversed the decision after he and school administrators met with local supporters on December 6, 2011. The school set up a campaign to raise funds for the program and have it join a conference. Despite the questions about its hockey future, UAH was the host institution for the
2012 Frozen Four in
Tampa, Florida. A week before the start of the 2012–13 season, UAH replaced Luongo and hired
Kurt Kleinendorst to become the program's fifth head coach. On January 17, 2013, after months of discussions with conference officials and league member representatives, UAH formally applied to and was accepted to join the
Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The Chargers began conference play in the 2013–14 season. Kleinendorst resigned on May 29, 2013. UAH named
Mike Corbett as its sixth head hockey coach on July 8, 2013.
Discontinuation In response to the financial difficulties faced by the university as a result of COVID-19, UAH president Darren Dawson discontinued the men's hockey program, as well as the men's and women's tennis programs. On May 25, 2020, the university announced the program would be reinstated if the community could raise $750,000 by Friday, May 29. Pledges from alumni reduced the amount needed from the general public to $500,000. On May 29, fundraising efforts surpassed $500,000, and shortly afterwards the university confirmed the program would be restored for the 2020–2021 season. The program was once again indefinitely discontinued in May 2021 due to the team's lack of conference membership, which was a condition of a significant portion of the funds pledged the previous summer. The university stated it intends to reinstate the program once conference membership is secured. ==Season-by-season results==