Waterloo Blackhawks
| Waterloo Black Hawks | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| City | Waterloo, Iowa |
| League | United States Hockey League |
| Division | West |
| 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 | KCNZ, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, KWWL |
| Franchise history | |
| First Franchise | |
| 1962–1980 | Waterloo Black Hawks |
| 1980–2001 | Dubuque Fighting Saints |
| 2001–2002 | Tulsa Crude |
| Current Franchise | |
| 1979–1980 | Hennepin Nordiques |
| 1980–present | Waterloo Black Hawks |
| 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 Western Division of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Black Hawks' home ice is the Young Arena in Waterloo, Iowa.
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 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 final series). The Stars reverted to the Black Hawks and the USHL the very next year, amid financial losses topping $150,000 and a Stars move to Cleveland.
After league titles in 1978, and '79, the Black Hawks converted to junior hockey with the rest of the USHL in 1979. 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.
From 1980 to 1992, following the retirement of head coach Scott Mikesch, 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 did not have a winning season again until 1993-94, winning 20 games (in a 48-game season) four times during that span.
The Black Hawks turned out several future NHL players in the early 1990s. Twin leading forwards Chris Ferraro and Peter Ferraro came over from Dubuque midway through the 1991-1992 season and scored a combined 200 points in total. Two seasons later, Jason Blake had 50 goals and 50 assists, the first 50-goal, 50-assist player in the USHL since Thunder Bay's Terry Menard seven years prior.
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