Weekly Preview

October 4, 2022 – United States Hockey League (USHL) – Waterloo Black Hawks News Release

October 29th Schedule Alteration

New Start Time for Dubuque Visit

Waterloo, Iowa – The Waterloo Black Hawks will play their Saturday, October 29th home game against the Dubuque Fighting Saints at 3:05 p.m., the United States Hockey League announced Tuesday.

The altered opening faceoff time lessens the overlap between the game and formally-approved trick-or-treating schedules in Waterloo and Cedar Falls that evening.

The matchup versus the Fighting Saints is part of the Dupaco Cowbell Cup series. Fans planning to attend the game can take advantage of a “Scary Good Deal” Halloween ticket package, with full details to be revealed later this month. The October 29th game will also be part of the Hawks’ Signature Saturday series, as well as a College Night, presented by the United States Air Force.

The Hawks first home game of the season will be this Saturday against the Tri-City Storm at 6:05 p.m.

WEEKLY PREVIEW

Back Home in Young Arena

The Black Hawks host the Tri-City Storm for this autumn’s first regular season game at Young Arena on Saturday afternoon at 6:05 p.m. The Storm won five of six games between the teams last season and are off to a 2-0-0 start. Tri-City was idle last weekend due to ice equipment problems at Viaero Center. The Storm roster includes David Sacco, who was briefly a Black Hawk in 2020/21, while Gennadi Chaly could make his Waterloo debut after spending the preseason skating for the Storm.

Home Opener History

The Black Hawks defeated the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders 3-0 during the first game at Young Arena last season. Shutouts have been surprisingly common during Hawks home openers. Last year was the fifth time in the last six years that either Waterloo has blanked an opponent or been held goalless by the opening night visitors. Saturday will also mark the third time the Hawks start their home schedule against Tri-City: the Storm prevailed 4-3 in overtime back in 2004, and Waterloo claimed a 1-0 win in 2019.

Home & Away 2021/22

Waterloo’s statistics skewed better at home in all meaningful categories last winter. The Hawks won 17 games at Young Arena, compared with 11 in other buildings. With 107 goals while skating as the home team, Waterloo averaged nearly 3.5 per game, but checked in at under 2.5 per night when working from the visitors’ bench. The Hawks also had better goals-against (90-107), power play (21.2%-15.0%), and penalty-killing (85.7%-83.0%) figures on home ice.

Accumulated Games

When the USHL schedule began during the Fall Classic, defenseman Tyler Procious had made 84 career regular season appearances. That number was the most by a current Black Hawks player and includes his time with the Muskegon Lumberjacks and Omaha Lancers. By comparison, Mason Reiners was the most seasoned Hawks veteran in 2021/22, with 105 career games to his credit when the year began. In fact, this is the first time since 2019/20 and only the third time since 2010/11 that Waterloo has opened a schedule without a player with at least 100 games of regular season experience.

Recent Games

The Hawks played just once last weekend, dropping a 4-3 decision against the Des Moines Buccaneers. Waterloo recovered from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game in the third period. However, Joey Muldowney scored his second of the game with under eight minutes left, tipping the final in the Bucs’ favor. Gavin Lindberg, Garrett Schifsky, and Myles Hilman scored the Hawks goals and Waterloo outshot Des Moines 31-27.

For complete box scores from previous Black Hawks games, visit ushl.com.

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