Sunday, October 23, 2011

EDIT - UAH to kill hockey

Holy Cow, after reading this newspaper article it doesn't look good for the University of Alabama Huntsville Chargers hockey team. One doesn't really have to look very far into these comments to see where this is going, you have a non hockey friendly college administrator, who probably doesn't know what a hockey puck is, that is hell bent on axing a college hockey program to save money and make a political point... It would be an absolute shame if UAH killed their Division I college Hockey program. 
John Turner, The Huntsville Times ---- Nathan Bowen, a 2000 UAH hockey alum and leader in private fundraising efforts to support the program, said in an email to The Times that $546,875 has been pledged over three years since that point. Bowen and a handful of supporters had hoped to meet with Portera on Tuesday to discuss the decision, but, according to Bowen, that sit-down will be preempted by the announcement.

"It's just been amazing that one person has this much power to end 33 years of tradition," Bowen said. "And it really is coming down to just him. It makes no sense to me.

"He is completely disregarding the mayor, the people of Huntsville, the student council at UAH and 23 athletes that gave up opportunities to play at other places," he continued. "He's completely disregarding those people and going back to his home in Tuscaloosa. To me, it's astounding." Portera Altenkirch UA System chancellor Malcolm Portera, right, will deciding on the future of the UAH hockey program before removing his interim title and appointing Robert Altenkirch as university president on Oct. 31. (The Huntsville Times/Robin Conn)

Portera has maintained that he plans to announce a decision on the program's future before handing over the presidency to Robert Altenkirchen on Oct. 31. In the meantime, Portera has met with various groups associated with UAH or college hockey to discuss the team's status.
EDIT - I just got some very bad news; just a few minutes ago, I got  word from a source that the UA Systems chancellor and interim UAH president Malcolm Portera is going to kill UAH Hockey, the announcement is coming tomorrow. 
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