CHRIS LUONGO
Alabama-Huntsville
Head Coach | Michigan State ’89 | Fraser, Mich.
Background: It will be more than a little strange for Luongo, the new head coach of the Chargers, to not be working within the confines of College Hockey America this season. After two seasons as an assistant coach with now-defunct Wayne State and two with Alabama-Huntsville, the former NHL defenseman moves into the top job as the team embarks on its first season as an independent.
An All-CCHA defenseman at Michigan State under legendary hockey coach Ron Mason, Luongo was part of the Spartans program from 1985-1989, including MSU’s 1986 national championship team. Following his collegiate career, Luongo, a fifth-round selection of the Detroit Red Wings in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, played with the Phoenix Roadrunners of the International Hockey League and the Adirondack Red Wings of the American Hockey League before making his NHL debut in Detroit in the 1990-91 season. A member of three U.S. teams that competed in the IIHF World Championships, Luongo wrapped up his playing career by spending seven seasons in Germany’s top league.
State of the Program: Seven seniors have departed, as have two juniors who graduated early. Key among them is three-year starting goaltender Cameron Talbot, who was named 2010 CHA Tournament MVP after backstopping the Chargers to a pair of one-goal wins en route to the CHA playoff crown and the program’s second NCAA berth.
“We have a lot of new players and Talbot’s signing leaves us with a question mark in net, but that is not unusual with the four-year cycle of college hockey,” Luongo said. “We lost some key players, but the guys we have coming back played a lot of minutes.”
Former head coach Danton Cole, who left Huntsville for a coaching post with the USA National Team Development Program, was able to put together a 34-game schedule that includes 14 home games. Road dates with Wisconsin, Michigan State, Cornell, Colorado College, Ohio State, and Nebraska-Omaha highlight the schedule.
“Our schedule is daunting, and yet amazing,” said Luongo. “We have multiple games against every league and it took every school on there to help us out. I know Danton was elated with the schedule before he left.”
Coaching Philosophy: “I’ve told our guys that this is the most unique place in college hockey for a lot of reasons — this year especially,” Luongo explained. ”Even though our entire coaching staff from last year are now head coaches (in addition to Cole, former assistant John McCabe is now head coach at Division III Finlandia University in Hancock, Mich.), our biggest advantage is familiarity with the situation. The veterans know what to expect and I helped recruit the new guys, so that will be a plus.”
The Chargers won last year by allowing just 2.70 goals per game (18th-best in the nation) and will likely again rely on defense and goaltending to stay competitive. Eight of UAH’s 12 wins were one-goal victories and they haven’t scored more than four goals in a game since January 31, 2008.
