Waterloo Blackhawks
Encyclopedia
The Waterloo Black Hawks are a Tier 1 junior ice hockey
team playing in the East Division of the United States Hockey League
(USHL). The Black Hawks' home ice is the Young Arena
located in Waterloo, Iowa
.
. The team started strong, winning the USHL championship every season from 1964 to 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
final series). The Stars reverted back to the Black Hawks and the USHL the very next year, amid financial losses topping $150,000 and a Stars move to Cleveland.
The new Black Hawks, unlike the Black Hawks of old, struggled. From 1980 to 1992, when new head coach Scott Mikesch stepped behind the bench, the team went through eight different head coaches. Five of them coached between 1980 and 1982. After the team's Southern Division title in 1980, the Black Hawks would not celebrate a winning season again until 1993-94, winning 20 games (in a 48-game season) only four times during that span.
and Peter Ferraro
came over in 1991 from Dubuque and scored a combined 200 points in the 1991-92 season, and just two seasons later, Jason Blake notched 50 goals and 50 assists, the first 50-goal, 50-assist player in the USHL since Thunder Bay's Terry Menard seven years prior.
In 1995, the Black Hawks moved out of the old McElroy Auditorium into the brand-new Young Arena
in downtown Waterloo. With that move and new owner Butch Johnson's purchase of the team almost simultaneously, things began to look up for the Black Hawks. Unfortunately, the records did not improve, and the team failed to finish above .500 again until 1999-2000. New head coach Scott Pionk brought a glimmer of hope to the Cedar Valley in 1997-98 with a 25-29-2 record, but a 16-37-3 record the next season led to his departure. Scott Koberinski's 28-26-4 record in 1999-2000, followed by a 25-29-2 record the next year, brought even higher hopes, but a 21-38-2 record led to yet another coaching change.
in the Anderson Cup race. The next season brought the Hawks' first USHL Clark Cup
championship ever (referenced below), and the first league title of any kind since 1979, despite finishing 4th in the Eastern Division. Once again, O'Handley's leadership brought a title in 2007, this time the Anderson Cup, the first-ever regular season title for the Black Hawks in the junior era. The Black Hawks also found themselves one game away from winning the 2007 Clark Cup, before they were downed 3-0 by the Sioux Falls Stampede
in the championship game, and they found themselves in the same state in the 2008 Clark Cup Finals, losing 4-3 to the Omaha Lancers
in overtime in the final game of the series. Since the 1993-94 season, the Black Hawks have sent over 100 players to the college ranks and have sent 10 alumni to the National Hockey League in their 32-year junior history.
Under the leadership of O'Handley and General Manager of Business Operations Doug Miller, the Black Hawks won the USHL Organization of the Year award for the 2002-03, 2004–05, and 2006-07 seasons. 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." http://www.ushl.com/news/story.cfm?id=286 O'Handley also won Coach of the Year honors for the 2002-03 and 2006-07 seasons and the General Manager of Year award for the 2002-03 season.
. Other rivalries include a former rivalry with the old 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
were added to the league a year later), and the Buccaneers themselves (because of the rich hockey heritage both teams share, and because travel between the two cities has been streamlined with four-lane retrofits of U.S. Highway 20 and Iowa Highway 330
. During the 1990s, the Black Hawks - Buccaneers rivalry was not nearly as active as it is now, due to the Buccaneers' usual stance at the top of the league and the Black Hawks' perennial place in the USHL's basement. Since the Buccaneers' fall from domination at the end of the 1990s and the Black Hawks' recent rise, the teams have found themselves on much more equal footing lately, and the rivalry is as alive as ever. 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 fire between the two teams.
Glenn Frey's "Partytown" is played after every home goal, while Billy Idol
's "Mony Mony
" is played to start every period.
Defensemen
4 Cleland, Matias
22 Hand, Peter
10 Hansen, James
3 McCoshen, Ian
28 Owens, Trevor
72 Witek, Mitch
51 Wittchow, Eddie
Forwards
13 Cameranesi, Tony
91 Cammarata, Taylor
44 Edson, Max
19 Hill, Jamie
12 Hinostroza, Vince
18 Huntebrinker, Mike
24 MacDonald, Scott
17 Michaelson, A.J.
67 Naclerio, Mark
16 Papa, Ryan
27 Pearce, Aaron
21 Rehkamp, Joe
61 Zepeda, Tyler
Goalies
35 McAdam, Eamon
1 Jay, Williams
Junior ice hockey
Junior hockey is a catch-all term used to describe various levels of ice hockey competition for players generally between 16 and 20 years of age...
team playing in the East Division of the United States Hockey League
United States Hockey League
The United States Hockey League is the top junior ice hockey league in the United States. The USHL has 16 member teams located in the Midwestern United States, consisting of players who are 20 years of age and younger...
(USHL). The Black Hawks' home ice is the Young Arena
Young Arena
Young Arena is a 3,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Waterloo, Iowa, United States, and was built in 1994. It is home to the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League, the Waterloo Warriors of the Midwest High School Hockey League, the Waterloo Youth Hockey Association, and the Cedar...
located in Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the population decreased by 0.5% to 68,406. Waterloo is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the more populous of the two...
.
Early history
The Waterloo Black Hawks began as a semi-professional team in the USHL in 1962. The league had been renamed prior to the season after beginning in 1948 as the American Amateur Hockey League. The team's home ice was the McElroy AuditoriumMcElroy Auditorium
McElroy Auditorium, also known as the Hippodrome, is a 6,630 permanent seat multipurpose arena located in Waterloo, Iowa. The auditorium was built in 1919 and renovated in 1936, when the roof was raised, floor was excavated and additional seating was added.-Arena Design:The auditorium has been in...
. The team started strong, winning the USHL championship every season from 1964 to 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
Central Professional Hockey League
The Central Hockey League was a minor professional ice hockey league that operated in the United States from 1963 to 1984. Initially named the Central Professional Hockey League, it was owned and operated by the National Hockey League and served as a successor to the Eastern Professional Hockey...
final series). The Stars reverted back to the Black Hawks and the USHL the very next year, amid financial losses topping $150,000 and a Stars move to Cleveland.
Early junior history
After another decade of success in the 1970s, including more league titles in 1978, and '79, the Black Hawks reverted to junior hockey with the rest of the USHL in 1979. They immediately 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. Waterloo was not without a team for long, however, as the USHL champion Hennepin Nordiques opted to move the team to Waterloo before the 1980-81 campaign.The new Black Hawks, unlike the Black Hawks of old, struggled. From 1980 to 1992, when new head coach Scott Mikesch stepped behind the bench, the team went through eight different head coaches. Five of them coached between 1980 and 1982. After the team's Southern Division title in 1980, the Black Hawks would not celebrate a winning season again until 1993-94, winning 20 games (in a 48-game season) only four times during that span.
The 1990s
Despite bad records and a decaying arena, the Black Hawks managed to turn out several future NHLers in the early 1990s. Twin star forwards Chris FerraroChris Ferraro
Chris Ferraro 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: the New York Rangers in the 1995–96 season.-Playing career:Chris Ferraro was the...
and Peter Ferraro
Peter Ferraro
Peter Joseph Ferraro is a former NHL hockey player who, along with his twin brother Chris became the second set of identical twins to play on the same NHL team, in the 1995–1996 NHL hockey season...
came over in 1991 from Dubuque and scored a combined 200 points in the 1991-92 season, and just two seasons later, Jason Blake notched 50 goals and 50 assists, the first 50-goal, 50-assist player in the USHL since Thunder Bay's Terry Menard seven years prior.
In 1995, the Black Hawks moved out of the old McElroy Auditorium into the brand-new Young Arena
Young Arena
Young Arena is a 3,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Waterloo, Iowa, United States, and was built in 1994. It is home to the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League, the Waterloo Warriors of the Midwest High School Hockey League, the Waterloo Youth Hockey Association, and the Cedar...
in downtown Waterloo. With that move and new owner Butch Johnson's purchase of the team almost simultaneously, things began to look up for the Black Hawks. Unfortunately, the records did not improve, and the team failed to finish above .500 again until 1999-2000. New head coach Scott Pionk brought a glimmer of hope to the Cedar Valley in 1997-98 with a 25-29-2 record, but a 16-37-3 record the next season led to his departure. Scott Koberinski's 28-26-4 record in 1999-2000, followed by a 25-29-2 record the next year, brought even higher hopes, but a 21-38-2 record led to yet another coaching change.
Recent success
New coach P.K. O'Handley brought immediate changes to the Black Hawks landscape in 2002-03, hauling in Waterloo's first division championship in 23 years with a 38-17-5 record and finishing only two points behind the Lincoln StarsLincoln Stars
The Lincoln Stars are a Tier 1 junior ice hockey team playing in the West Division of the United States Hockey League .The Stars' home ice is the Ice Box, on the Nebraska State Fair grounds and adjacent to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln....
in the Anderson Cup race. The next season brought the Hawks' first USHL Clark Cup
Clark Cup
The Clark Cup is a trophy awarded annually to the winner of the United States Hockey League Tier 1 Junior Hockey playoff champions. The Clark Cup was named in honor of Dan Clark, the long-time registrar of the Minnesota Amateur Hockey Association. Clark was also the recipient of the NHL's Lester...
championship ever (referenced below), and the first league title of any kind since 1979, despite finishing 4th in the Eastern Division. Once again, O'Handley's leadership brought a title in 2007, this time the Anderson Cup, the first-ever regular season title for the Black Hawks in the junior era. The Black Hawks also found themselves one game away from winning the 2007 Clark Cup, before they were downed 3-0 by the Sioux Falls Stampede
Sioux Falls Stampede
The Sioux Falls Stampede is a Tier 1 junior ice hockey team playing in the West Division of the United States Hockey League . Based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the Stampede plays its home games at the Sioux Falls Arena....
in the championship game, and they found themselves in the same state in the 2008 Clark Cup Finals, losing 4-3 to the Omaha Lancers
Omaha Lancers
The Omaha Lancers are a Tier 1 junior ice hockey team playing in the West Division of the United States Hockey League .From 2002-2009, the Lancers' home ice was the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, across the Missouri River from Omaha. Until the 2001-2002 season, the Lancers played at...
in overtime in the final game of the series. Since the 1993-94 season, the Black Hawks have sent over 100 players to the college ranks and have sent 10 alumni to the National Hockey League in their 32-year junior history.
Under the leadership of O'Handley and General Manager of Business Operations Doug Miller, the Black Hawks won the USHL Organization of the Year award for the 2002-03, 2004–05, and 2006-07 seasons. 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." http://www.ushl.com/news/story.cfm?id=286 O'Handley also won Coach of the Year honors for the 2002-03 and 2006-07 seasons and the General Manager of Year award for the 2002-03 season.
Rivalries
The Black Hawks have had some memorable rivalries with other USHL teams, most notably the current "Corridor Cup" rivalry with the Cedar Rapids RoughRidersCedar Rapids RoughRiders
The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders are a Tier 1 junior ice hockey team playing in the East Division of the United States Hockey League . Before moving to Cedar Rapids in 1999, the team was based in Mason City, where they were known as the North Iowa Huskies....
. Other rivalries include a former rivalry with the old Dubuque Fighting Saints
Dubuque Fighting Saints
The Dubuque Fighting Saints joined the United States Hockey League for the 1980–1981 season. They rejoined the USHL in 2010.The Saints glory years lasted from 1980–1981 through to 1984–1985, when they played under the coaching supervision of Jack Barzee who left to become a central figure in the...
(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
Des Moines Buccaneers
The Des Moines Buccaneers are a Tier 1 junior ice hockey team of the United States Hockey League . The team played in the West Division starting in the 2009 - 2010 season....
were added to the league a year later), and the Buccaneers themselves (because of the rich hockey heritage both teams share, and because travel between the two cities has been streamlined with four-lane retrofits of U.S. Highway 20 and Iowa Highway 330
Iowa Highway 330
A state highway in central Iowa, Iowa Highway 330 runs northeasterly from near Mingo in Jasper County past Albion, to just north of Marshalltown in Marshall County. Originally the two-lane, unpaved Iowa Highway 88 in the 1930s, and later Iowa Highway 64 until 1969, Highway 330 is now a four-lane...
. During the 1990s, the Black Hawks - Buccaneers rivalry was not nearly as active as it is now, due to the Buccaneers' usual stance at the top of the league and the Black Hawks' perennial place in the USHL's basement. Since the Buccaneers' fall from domination at the end of the 1990s and the Black Hawks' recent rise, the teams have found themselves on much more equal footing lately, and the rivalry is as alive as ever. 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 fire between the two teams.
Atmosphere
Black Hawks games are often loud and crowded; the Black Hawks have grown their home attendance each season for the past seven years, a feat the team claims has never been accomplished in organized hockey. Most of those fans have cowbells, adding to the noise in the arena. Also contributing to the arena's noise level is the low ceiling, which bounces noise right back to the fans, and a portable train horn, which sounds with every Black Hawks goal.Glenn Frey's "Partytown" is played after every home goal, while Billy Idol
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad , better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X...
's "Mony Mony
Mony Mony
"Mony Mony" is a 1968 single by Tommy James & the Shondells, that reached #1 in the UK charts.-History:"Mony Mony" was credited to Tommy James, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, and Bobby Bloom. The hook in the song is said to have been inspired by James' view of a MONY sign atop the Mutual of New York...
" is played to start every period.
Former Black Hawks in pro hockey
- Jan-Mikael JuutilainenJan-Mikael JuutilainenJan-Mikael Juutilainen is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who currently plays for Jokerit of the SM-liiga. He was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 6th round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.-External links:...
(SM-LiigaSM-liigaThe SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. As of March 2008, it is ranked by the IIHF as the second strongest league in Europe. It was created in 1975 to replace the SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. The SM-liiga is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice...
) - Siim LiivikSiim LiivikSiim Liivik is an Estonian Finnish ice hockey winger who currently represents HIFK of the Finnish top flight, the SM-Liiga.In 2011 he sang as Märkä-Simo with Jare & VilleGalle in 2011 summer hit Häissä.-Career:...
(SM-LiigaSM-liigaThe SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. As of March 2008, it is ranked by the IIHF as the second strongest league in Europe. It was created in 1975 to replace the SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. The SM-liiga is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice...
) - Joe PavelskiJoe PavelskiJoseph Pavelski is an American professional ice hockey player now playing for the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League . He scored a goal in his first NHL game, making him the 11th Sharks player in the history of the team to do so...
(NHL), 2010 Olympic Silver Medalist - Jason Blake (NHL)
- Mark Eaton (NHL)
- Andrew AlbertsAndrew AlbertsAndrew James Alberts is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who plays for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League . He has additionally played in the NHL with the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes...
(NHL)
Current roster
as of the 2011-12 seasonDefensemen
4 Cleland, Matias
22 Hand, Peter
10 Hansen, James
3 McCoshen, Ian
28 Owens, Trevor
72 Witek, Mitch
51 Wittchow, Eddie
Forwards
13 Cameranesi, Tony
91 Cammarata, Taylor
44 Edson, Max
19 Hill, Jamie
12 Hinostroza, Vince
18 Huntebrinker, Mike
24 MacDonald, Scott
17 Michaelson, A.J.
67 Naclerio, Mark
16 Papa, Ryan
27 Pearce, Aaron
21 Rehkamp, Joe
61 Zepeda, Tyler
Goalies
35 McAdam, Eamon
1 Jay, Williams