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Waterloo Black Hawks

Waterloo Black Hawks Weekly Preview

December 16, 2014 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Waterloo Black Hawks News Release


Christmas (Break) Eve

Friday evening, the Waterloo Black Hawks play their final game before the beginning a seven-day holiday respite. The matchup will be the Hawks' first contest of the season versus the Des Moines Buccaneers. Waterloo was 4-0-0 last winter against Des Moines, but under new Head Coach Dave Allison, the Bucs are currently third in the United States Hockey League Western Conference with a mark of 12-9-3. Each of the past two seasons, the Hawks have won their final game prior to the break, including a 6-4 decision last winter versus the National Team Development Program Under-17's on December 14th. The last time Waterloo visited Des Moines for the last pre-Christmas contest was in 2009, a game the Buccaneers claimed 6-5.

First Time Back

When Waterloo meets the Bucs, it will be the first game for several Hawks against their former team. Brendan Shane, Marcel Godbout, and Ruslan Rakhmatov were all Buccaneers last season. Godbout was second for Des Moines with 14 goals in 2013/14, while Shane was tenth with seven. Both forwards were also among the Bucs' top ten point producers. Rakhmatov led Des Moines with 202 penalty minutes.

Iowa Road Games

Buccaneer Arena is the only USHL rink in Iowa which the Black Hawks have not yet visited in 2014/15. The other in-state stops on the circuit (Cedar Rapids Ice Arena, Mystique Ice Center in Dubuque, and Tyson Events Center in Sioux City) have proved difficult thus far; Waterloo is 0-3-1 at those venues during the current slate. Last season, the Hawks were 7-1-3 when playing away from Young Arena but still within state lines.

Beaulieu Climbs Stat Column

Hawks defenseman Phil Beaulieu has scored a goal in two of the Hawks' last three games. Now with four goals this season, the Duluth native is currently tied for seventh in goals among all defensemen league-wide. He has also moved to fifth in overall scoring for the Black Hawks with 11 points. Entering the year, Beaulieu had not recorded a goal in 26 regular season USHL appearances. The Nebraska-Omaha recruit notched his first versus the Sioux Falls Stampede on October 11th.

Weekly Recap

The Sioux City Musketeers recorded three second period goals on Friday, dashing away to a 4-1 victory against the Hawks. Larry Jungwirth notched the lone Black Hawks marker in the closing minutes of the third period. Saturday, Waterloo used a third period rally to earn a point against the Lincoln Stars. Trailing 2-0, Phil Beaulieu and John Wiitala scored to even the contest. Lincoln prevailed in a shootout, 3-2.

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