Waterloo Black Hawks

Waterloo Black Hawks
City:	Waterloo, Iowa
League:	United States Hockey League
Division:	East
Founded:	1962
Home Arena:	Young Arena
Colors:	Black, Red, and White
Owner(s):	Butch Johnson
General Manager:	P.K. O'Handley
Head Coach:	P.k. O'Handley
Media:	Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, KWWL
Championships
Regular Season Titles:	2007
Division Championships:	1980, 2003, 2007
Playoff Championships:	2004

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.

Early history

The Waterloo Black Hawks began as a semi-professional team in the USHL in 1962, the league having started only a season before. The team's home ice was the McElroy Auditorium. 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 team 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.

Early junior history

After another decade of success in the 1970s, including more league titles in 1975, '78, 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 Ferraro 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.

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 Stars 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 103 players to the college ranks and have sent 73 alumni to the pro ranks in their 28-year junior history, including 8 current NHL players.

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." 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 RoughRiders. 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.

Season-by-season record

Senior/Professional Years

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points

Season	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts	Finish	Playoffs
Waterloo Black Hawks
1962-63	32	16	16	0	147	156	32	3rd overall	Lost Semifinals
1963-64	30	19	11	0	156	126	38	1st overall	Won Championship
1964-65	28	17	11	0	129	110	34	1st overall	Won Championship
1965-66	30	21	9	0	182	132	42	1st overall	Won Championship
1966-67	32	17	14	1	128	117	35	1st overall	Won Championship
1967-68	34	27	6	1	190	105	55	1st overall	Won Championship
1968-69	38	20	16	2	-	-	42	3rd overall
Iowa Stars (CHL)
1969-70	72	35	26	11	252	232	81	2nd overall	Lost Final
Waterloo Black Hawks
1970-71	40	19	19	2	187	180	40	2nd overall
1971-72	32	15	17	0	130	136	30	2nd overall
1972-73	42	23	18	1	217	189	47	3rd Southern	Did not qualify
1973-74	48	29	18	1	236	183	59	2nd Southern
1974-75	48	30	15	3	221	165	63	1st Southern	Won Championship
1975-76	48	30	18	0	242	184	60	2nd Southern	Lost first round
1976-77	48	20	28	0	216	279	40	3rd Southern	Did not Qualify
1977-78	51	34	17	0	267	198	68	1st US	Won Championship
1978-79	51	39	12	0	304	182	66	1st Central	Won Championship

Junior Years

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OL = Overtime Losses, SL = Shootout Losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points

Season	GP	W	L	T	OL	SL	GF	GA	Pts	Finish	Playoffs
Original Junior Franchise (became Dubuque Fighting Saints)
1979-80	48	27	19	2	-	-	270	235	56	1st of 3 Southern
Current franchise (previous Hennepin Nordiques franchise)
1980-81	48	16	32	0	-	-	220	311	32	3rd of 4 Southern
1981-82	48	11	36	1	-	-	179	290	23	7th of 7 overall
1982-83	48	6	42	0	-	-	189	336	12	7th of 7 overall
1983-84	48	11	33	1	3	-	199	307	26	7th of 8 overall
1984-85	48	21	24	0	3	-	260	278	45	6th of 10 overall
1985-86	48	16	30	1	1	-	223	304	34	7th of 10 overall
1986-87	48	23	19	0	6	-	259	266	52	4th of 10 overall
1987-88	48	20	24	3	1	-	237	269	44	8th of 10 overall
1988-89	48	9	37	0	2	-	169	338	20	9th of 10 overall
1989-90	48	7	36	3	2	-	181	314	19	9th of 10 overall
1990-91	48	17	29	2	0	-	162	234	40	9th of 10 overall
1991-92	48	21	25	2	0	-	253	286	46	6th of 10 overall
1992-93	48	17	24	3	4	-	155	205	41	7th of 10 overall
1993-94	54	33	15	0	2	-	214	152	68	2nd of 10 overall
1994-95	48	14	27	2	5	-	161	205	35	9th of 11 overall
1995-96	46	21	19	2	4	-	157	176	48	6th of 11 overall
1996-97	56	16	34	-	4	-	182	273	36	5th of 6 South	Did not qualify
1997-98	56	29	25	-	0	2	159	200	52	5th of 6 South	Lost quarterfinals 1-4 (North Iowa Huskies)
1998-99	56	16	37	-	3	0	167	245	35	4th of 4 East	Did not qualify
1999-00	58	28	26	-	0	4	186	213	60	3rd of 7 East	Lost Quarterfinals 1-3 (Green Bay Gamblers)
2000-01	56	25	29	-	2	0	189	210	52	3rd of 6 East	Did not qualify
2001-02	61	21	38	-	2	0	138	220	44	5th of 6 East	Did not qualify
2002-03	60	38	17	-	1	4	221	171	81	1st of 5 East	Won Quarterfinals 3-1 (Des Moines Buccaneers) Lost Semifinals 0-3 (River City Lancers)
2003-04	60	30	27	-	2	1	174	162	63	4th of 6 East	Won Quarterfinals 3-2 (Chicago Steel) Won Semifinals 3-0 (Danville Wings) Won Championship 3-1 (Tri-City Storm)
2004-05	60	29	25	-	3	3	163	168	64	2nd of 6 East	Lost Quarterfinals 0-3 (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders)
2005-06	60	23	30	-	5	2	177	201	53	5th of 6 East	Did not qualify
2006-07	60	39	17	-	1	3	225	157	82	1st of 6 East 1st Overall	Won first round 4-1 (Chicago Steel) Finished 3rd Quarterfinals 1-1 Won Semifinal 1-0 (ot) (Des Moines Buccaneers) Lost championship game  0-3 (Sioux Falls Stampede)
2007-08	60	38	17	-	1	4	183	151	81	2nd of 6 East	Won Quarterfinals 3-0 (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) Won Semifinals 3-0 (Chicago Steel) Lost Final 2-3 (Omaha Lancers)
2008-09	60	37	20	-	2	1	246	198	77	4th of 6 East	Lost Quarterfinals 0-3 (Green Bay Gamblers)
2009-10	60	31	27	-	2	0	227	221	64	4th of 6 East	Lost Quarterfinals 0-3 (Green Bay Gamblers)
2010-11	60	24	29	-	3	4	164	183	55	6th of 8 Eastern	Lost First Round 0-2 (Indiana Ice)
2011-12	60	35	19	-	2	4	213	189	76	3rd of 8 Western	Won First Round 2-0 (Tri-City Storm) Won Quarterfinals 3-1 (Omaha Lancers) Won Semifinals 3-1 (Lincoln Stars) Lost Final 2-3 (Green Bay Gamblers)
2012-13	64	39	21	-	2	2	273	217	82	3rd of 8 Western	Lost Quarterfinals 3-0 (Fargo Force)
2013-14	60	44	11	-	1	4	240	153	93	1st of 8 Western 1st overall	Won Quarterfinals 3-0 (Sioux Falls Stampede) Won Semifinals 3-1 (Sioux City Musketeers) Lost Final 2-3 (Indiana Ice)
2014-15	60	28	26	-	2	4	191	182	62	5th of 8 Western	Did not qualify
2015-16	60	31	24	-	2	3	198	183	67	3rd of 8 Western	Won Quarterfinals 3-1 (Lincoln Stars) Lost Semifinals 2-3 (Tri-City Storm)
2016-17	60	40	16	-	2	2	210	161	84	2nd of 8 Western	Won Quarterfinals 3-0 (Fargo Force) Lost Semifinals 2-3 (Sioux City Musketeers)
2017-18	60	38	14	-	6	2	199	150	84	1st of 8 Western 1st of 17 overall	Won Conf. Semifinals 3-1 (Lincoln Stars) Lost Conf Final 1-4 (Fargo Force)
2018-19	62	39	16	-	5	2	232	173	85	2nd of 8 Western	Lost Conf Semifinals 1-3 (Sioux Falls Stampede)
2019-20	49	33	14	-	2	0	169	129	68	1st of 8 Western	Playoffs cancelled
2020-21	53	22	30	-	1	0	165	202	.425	7th Western	Did not qualify
2021-22	62	28	30	-	3	1	182	197	60	6th Western	Won Conf. Quarterfinals 1-2 (Lincoln Stars) Lost Conf Semifinals 1-2 (Sioux City Musketeers)
2022-23	62	40	21	-	1	0	230	181	81	2nd Western	Lost Conf. Semifinals 1-2 (Lincoln Stars)
2023-24	62	35	25	-	0	2	224	205	72	3rd Western	Lost Conf. Quarterifinals (Lincoln Stars)

Former Black Hawks in pro hockey

• J. T. Brown (ice hockey) (NHL)
• Jan-Mikael Juutilainen (SM-Liiga)
• Siim Liivik (SM-Liiga)
• Joe Pavelski (NHL), 2010 Olympic Silver Medalist
• Jason Blake (NHL)
• Mark Eaton (NHL)
• Andrew Alberts (NHL)
• Craig Smith (NHL)
• Eriah Hayes (NHL)

Links

• official website