{"id":56446,"date":"2014-02-20T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=56446"},"modified":"2014-02-19T21:02:12","modified_gmt":"2014-02-20T03:02:12","slug":"alabama-huntsville-gets-a-lift-from-maroon-5-carrie-underwood-to-reach-mankato","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2014\/02\/20\/alabama-huntsville-gets-a-lift-from-maroon-5-carrie-underwood-to-reach-mankato\/","title":{"rendered":"Alabama-Huntsville gets a lift from Maroon 5, Carrie Underwood to reach Mankato"},"content":{"rendered":"
Last weekend’s bus trip from Huntsville, Ala., to Mankato, Minn., wasn’t the worst or the longest excursion the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers ever had to make for a game.<\/span><\/p>\n “In the four years I’ve been here we’ve done some pretty crazy trips,” senior forward Alex Allan said. “Twenty-four hours on a bus to upper New York. Planes to Alaska where we had to connect three times. In my four years, we’ve done it all.”<\/p>\n That 24-hour trip to play St. Lawrence in Canton, N.Y., last season had an unfortunate twist.<\/p>\n “The bus driver took a wrong turn that cost us an extra four hours,” Allan said.<\/p>\n Last week, the Chargers were scheduled to fly to Minnesota to play the Mavericks. However, the massive winter storm that crippled the South canceled their flights and forced them to find an alternative means of travel.<\/p>\n “We get a couple inches of snow in Huntsville, and everybody freaks out,” junior forward Craig Pierce said.<\/p>\n Check out the travel digs to Mankato. Safe to say it all worked out. pic.twitter.com\/m1QbVAdUym<\/a><\/p>\n — UAH Hockey (@uahhockey) February 14, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Trying to avoid postponing the series for even a day, Huntsville finally lined up a pair of tour buses reportedly used by the band Maroon 5, country star Carrie Underwood and others. At least it was the lap of luxury for the 21-hour trip.<\/p>\n “They were the nicest beds we ever had on a sleeper bus,” Pierce said. “We had DirecTV and watched the Olympic games.”<\/p>\n Classes at UAH were canceled due to the weather, but the Chargers practiced Thursday and departed about 8:30 p.m. They arrived in Mankato around 5:15 p.m. Friday, with just about 2½ hours to spare before the opening faceoff.<\/p>\n No excuses seemed to be the theme of the night, however, and coach Mike Corbett, Pierce and Allan all stayed on message throughout the weekend.<\/p>\n “We’re Division I hockey players,” Allan said. “We needed to be able to adjust and be ready.”<\/p>\n Said Corbett: “It’s like junior hockey all over again. We’re used to traveling by bus. We’re not going to make any excuses.”<\/p>\n The Chargers dropped both games to the Mavericks, falling 4-0 each night, results that might have been the case anyway considering the teams’ place in the standings. Minnesota State is in the hunt for the MacNaughton Cup, while Huntsville is locked into last place.<\/p>\n “The only time I ever felt bad out there was when I’d get stuck out there on a long shift,” Pierce said before Saturday’s game.<\/p>\n If anything, the Chargers looked more travel weary on Saturday, when Minnesota State outshot them 65-10 and out-attempted them 131-25. Alabama-Huntsville freshman goalie Carmine Guerriero set a school record with 61 saves.<\/p>\n Despite dropping to 1-30-1, players talked about hope for the future of the team. Corbett is the third coach in as many years but appears committed to building the program, and there’s stability with a spot in a conference for the first time in four years — even if it does mean some long travel from time to time.<\/p>\n “I tell everyone I’m looking forward to what the program is going to be in a few years,” Pierce said. “I won’t necessarily be here, but I’m excited for the guys.”<\/p>\n In its first trip to the Olympic quarterfinals, Latvia and Bowling Green sophomore defenseman Ralfs Freibergs nearly upset the defending gold medalists from Canada in a 2-1 loss on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The Canadians needed a power-play goal from Shea Weber at 13:06 of the third period to finally break a 1-1 tie with Latvia.<\/p>\n Freibergs, who has two goals and 18 assists this season for the Falcons, saw the ice only three times against Canada for a total of 2 minutes, 55 seconds. He finished with 9:19 for the tournament, suiting up for all five games, including the qualification-round win over Switzerland. He recorded an assist against Sweden.<\/p>\n The 22-year-old Falcons skater had played for Latvia before, but the Sochi games were his first Olympics.<\/p>\n What a great experience for me. I am so proud of my country and we proved that Latvia can!<\/p>\nFreibergs, Latvia nearly upset Canada in quarterfinals<\/h4>\n