PELHAM, Ala. — For the third time in four years, Alabama is competing for a national championship, but not in the sport you would expect.
The Frozen Tide Alabama hockey team starts its run at a title as the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s Division III championships begin on Tuesday at the Pelham Civic Center in Pelham, Ala. The team is hosting the tournament for the first time in its home rink, and expect record crowds for this week’s games.
“It’s a major step for the program,” team captain and forward Clay Link told the Tuscaloosa News. “There hasn’t been a game this year that we’ve been outplayed, so there shouldn’t be any reason why we come into this next game thinking we can’t win.”
Alabama is the second seed in the tournament behind Florida Gulf Coast University and was selected into a pool with Michigan State, Pitt-Johnstown and Colorado State. The first three games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are guaranteed, where Alabama will play each team in its pool starting with Michigan State on Tuesday night. The top team from each pool advances to Friday’s semifinals and the winners move on to Saturday’s national championship.
On Monday, the team received a pre-tournament tour of the Alabama football facility, getting a quick pep talk and awarding a jersey to Nick Saban. The tour also included players like goalie Thomas Condon wearing some of the football team’s championship rings and hockey head coach Mike Quenneville sitting in Saban’s chair for a bit.
Alabama received an automatic bid to the ACHA D-III tournament for the first time, and it will be the last time competing in the tournament as the Frozen Tide are moving up to ACHA’s Division I next season. But the team and its depressed-looking Big Al mascot would like to see their way out of Division III with a national championship.
“Being in Alabama everyone loves a national championship,” Quenneville told the Tuscaloosa News. “Being competitive in a non-traditional sport in the south, that goes a long way.”
Here’s Alabama’s hype video for the tournament:
All of Alabama’s games from Tuesday-Thursday are at 7 p.m., the semifinals are on Friday at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., and the national championship on Saturday is at 3 p.m. Tickets for adults are $45 for the tournament and $15 per day. Ticket information and the full tournament bracket are available here.
