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The Waterloo Black Hawks are a Tier I junior
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
team playing in the Western Conference of the
United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...
(USHL) under president and general manager P.K. O'Handley. The Black Hawks' home ice is the Young Arena in
Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 67,314, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The city is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls ...
.


History


Early history

The Waterloo Black Hawks began as a
semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...
senior team in the
United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...
(USHL) in 1962. The league had been renamed prior to the season after beginning in 1948 as the
American Amateur Hockey League The American Amateur Hockey League was an amateur ice hockey league in the United States. The league was founded in 1896, and was based in New York City and New Jersey, until 1914, when the Boston AA joined the league. In the 1900–01 season a te ...
. The team's home ice was the McElroy Auditorium. The team won the USHL championship consecutively between the seasons of 1964 and 1968. After the 1968–69 season, the Black Hawks went on a one-year hiatus to become the Minnesota North Stars' top farm team, the Iowa Stars. The Stars finished 35–26–11 in 1969–70, one point behind league champion Omaha (whom the Stars would later lose to in the
Central Professional Hockey League The Central Professional Hockey League was a minor professional ice hockey league that operated in the United States from 1963 to 1984. Named the Central Hockey League for the 1968–69 season and forward, it was owned and operated by the Natio ...
final series). The Stars reverted to the Black Hawks and the USHL the next year amid financial losses topping $150,000 and the Stars move to Cleveland.


Early junior history

After league titles in 1978, and 1979 in a hybrid junior-senior format, the Black Hawks converted to
junior hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...
with the rest of the USHL in 1979–80. They won the Southern Division title in 1979–80 before head coach Jack Barzee moved the team to Dubuque the next season, becoming the Fighting Saints in the process. The Hennepin Nordiques then moved to Waterloo before the 1980–81 campaign. The "new" Black Hawks retained the history, logos, and arena of the old team. Following the retirement of head coach Scott Mikesch in 1980, the team went through eight different head coaches from 1980 to 1992. Five of them coached between 1980 and 1982. After the team's Southern Division title in 1980, the Black Hawks did not have a winning season again until 1993–94, winning 20 games (in a 48-game season) four times during that span.


1990s

The Black Hawks turned out several future
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL) players in the early 1990s. Twin leading forwards
Chris Ferraro Christopher M. Ferraro (born January 24, 1973) is an American retired ice hockey player who formerly played in the National Hockey League. Along with his twin brother, Peter, became the second set of identical twins to play on the same NHL team: ...
and
Peter Ferraro Peter Joseph Ferraro (born January 24, 1973) is an American former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He and his twin brother Chris became the second set of identical twins to play on the same NHL tea ...
came over from Dubuque midway through the 1991–92 season and scored a combined 200 points from their time that year in Waterloo and Dubuque. Two seasons later, Jason Blake had 50
goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...
and 50 assists, the first 50-goal, 50-assist player in the USHL since Thunder Bay's Terry Menard seven years prior. In 1994, the Black Hawks moved out of the old McElroy Auditorium into the new Young Arena in downtown Waterloo. New owner Butch Johnson's purchased the team in 1997. The records did not improve, and the team failed to finish above .500 again until the 1999–2000 season. New head coach Scott Pionk in 1997–98 had a 25–29–2 record, but a 16–37–3 record the next season led to his departure. Scott Koberinski had a 28–26–4 record in 1999–2000, followed by a 25–29–2 record the next year, but a 21–38–2 record in 2001–02 led to another coaching change.


2002–2020

New coach P.K. O'Handley brought immediate changes to the Black Hawks in 2002–03 and Waterloo won their first division championship in 23 years with a 38–17–5 record and finishing two points behind the
Lincoln Stars The Lincoln Stars are a Tier I junior ice hockey team playing in the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Stars' home ice is the Ice Box on the former Nebraska State Fair grounds and adjacent to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. History ...
in the Anderson Cup standings. The next season brought the Hawks' first USHL Clark Cup championship win, and the first league title of any kind since 1979, despite finishing fourth in the Eastern Division. The Black Hawks also won the Anderson Cup regular season title in 2006–07, their first regular season title for the Black Hawks in the junior era. The team was one game away from winning the 2007 Clark Cup before they were beaten 3–0 by the
Sioux Falls Stampede The Sioux Falls Stampede are a Tier I junior ice hockey team based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Stampede are members of the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The team plays home games at the Denny Sanford Premier ...
in the championship game. The made it to the 2008 Clark Cup Finals, but lost 4–3 to the
Omaha Lancers The Omaha Lancers are a Tier I junior ice hockey team and are members of the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). Founded in 1986, the Lancers play at the Liberty First Credit Union Arena in Ralston, Nebraska. Previou ...
in
overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...
in the final game of the series. Waterloo was also defeated in a five-game finals series by the Green Bay Gamblers in 2012 and once more in 2014 by the Indiana Ice. However, the Hawks did win additional Anderson Cups in 2013–14 and 2017–18. Of the 31 Black Hawks alumni who have gone on to appear in the NHL, 22 played for O'Handley, including Joe Pavelski, Vinnie Hinostroza, and
Brock Boeser Brock Michael Boeser (; ; born February 25, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey player for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). A top prospect with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League (USHL) ...
. In the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, forwards Vladislav Firstov (42nd) and Matej Blumel (100th) were drafted to the Minnesota Wild and the Edmonton Oilers, respectively. The Black Hawks won the USHL Organization of the Year award for the 2002–03, 2004–05, and 2006–07 seasons. At the time, the USHL said of the Black Hawks in 2007, "Once a franchise in a state of disarray, the Waterloo Black Hawks are now among the teams that sets the standard for how a team should be run." P.K. O'Handley also won Coach of the Year honors for the 2002–03, 2006–07, 2013–14, and 2017–18 seasons and the General Manager of Year award for the 2002–03, 2011–12, 2017–18 seasons.


2021–present

O'Handley stepped down from his coaching position after the 2020–21 season to focus on the off-ice aspects of operating the team. The Black Hawks hired former NHL player Matt Smaby as head coach beginning with the 2021–22 season.


Rivalries

The Black Hawks have had ongoing rivalries with other USHL teams, including the current "Corridor Cup" rivalry with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. Other rivalries include a former rivalry with the original Dubuque Fighting Saints (which were the Black Hawks prior to 1980), a rivalry with the Sioux City Musketeers (the only teams left from the 1979 USHL transformation; the
Des Moines Buccaneers The Des Moines Buccaneers are a Tier I junior ice hockey team in the United States Hockey League (USHL). The team has played in the Western Conference since the 2009–10 season. History The Buccaneers began USHL play during the 1980–81 season ...
were added to the league a year later), and the Buccaneers. During the 1990s, the Black Hawks - Buccaneers rivalry was not as active as it is now, with the Buccaneers' at the top of the league and the Black Hawks' lower down in the USHL's league tables. In 2010, the USHL saw the renewal of the rivalry between Dubuque and Waterloo. Dubuque took back the old name of the Dubuque Fighting Saints and renewed the rivalry between the two teams. Currently Waterloo shares a four-way rivalry with Dubuque, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines in the Dupaco Cowbell Cup.


Roster

As of September 21, 2022. t


Notable Black Hawks


Former Black Hawks in professional hockey

Among the Black Hawks alumni in the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
: * Andrew Alberts * Mikey Anderson * Jason Blake *
Brock Boeser Brock Michael Boeser (; ; born February 25, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey player for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). A top prospect with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League (USHL) ...
* J. T. Brown *
Mark Eaton Mark Edward Eaton (January 24, 1957 – May 28, 2021) was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire career (1982–1993) with the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Named an NBA All-Star in 1989, he wa ...
*
Chris Ferraro Christopher M. Ferraro (born January 24, 1973) is an American retired ice hockey player who formerly played in the National Hockey League. Along with his twin brother, Peter, became the second set of identical twins to play on the same NHL team: ...
*
Mark Friedman Mark Isaac Friedman (born December 25, 1995) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman, currently playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the 3rd round the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the P ...
*
Eriah Hayes Eriah Joseph Hayes (born July 7, 1988) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the San Jose Sharks. Playing career He played junior hockey with the Waterloo Blackhawks. Hayes atte ...
* Vinnie Hinostroza *
Ian McCoshen Ian James McCoshen (born August 5, 1995) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently playing under contract with Ässät in the Liiga. McCoshen was selected by the Florida Panthers in the second round, 31st overall, of th ...
*
Brandon Montour Brandon Montour (born April 11, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Florida Panthers in the National Hockey League (NHL). Montour was selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round, 55th overall, of the 2014 NHL ...
* Joe Pavelski * Cal Petersen *
Zach Sanford Zachary Michael Sanford (born November 9, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey forward for the Milwaukee Admirals in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). S ...
* Craig Smith * Patrick Wey * Derek Whitmore


Former Black Hawks in other sports

*
Michael Annett Michael W. Annett (born June 23, 1986) is an American retired professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. Racing career Early career Save for a few ...
NASCAR (Most Improved Player and member of Championship team in 2004)


References


External links

*
USHL website

Black Hawks Chronicle, ''team history published in 2011''
{{Iowa Sports United States Hockey League teams Waterloo, Iowa Ice hockey teams in Iowa Ice hockey clubs established in 1962 1962 establishments in Iowa