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Waterloo Black Hawks

Waterloo Black Hawks Weekly Preview

January 21, 2015 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Waterloo Black Hawks News Release


Road Leads Back to Party Town

After playing six consecutive games away from home - the longest stretch of the season - the Waterloo Black Hawks are back on home ice to face the Chicago Steel on Friday and the Des Moines Buccaneers Saturday. Chicago and Des Moines have each been sharp on the road themselves during 2014/15. The Steel are 10-8-2 away from home, one of just three USHL clubs currently with ten road wins. Only the Green Bay Gamblers and the Black Hawks have traveled to more games than Chicago, so far. Meanwhile, the Bucs are 6-6-3 on the road, with four of six victories against teams from the Western Conference.

Just a Dozen at Home

The Black Hawks' 12 home games tie for the fewest played in the USHL to this point in 2014/15. On this date last winter, Waterloo had taken the ice at Young Arena 16 times (33% more often). In the first home game of calendar 2015, the Hawks will be trying to build on a three-game home point streak (2-0-1). While the team has enjoyed some offensive success on the road, at least three players should be notably excited to get back to Party Town: Hayden Shaw, Rem Pitlick, and Max Coatta each have a better points-per-game average during home games, compared with their away stats. Of 27 remaining games, 18 (or two-thirds) will be at Young Arena.

Getting Settled

Two veteran USHL'ers made their Black Hawk debuts over the weekend. Forward Blake Christensen skated on Friday and Saturday versus the Sioux Falls Stampede. The Florida native had played in over 100 regular season games with Team USA, the Youngstown Phantoms, Muskegon Lumberjacks, and, most recently, the Lincoln Stars. In Lincoln this season, Christensen's +4 plus/minus differential had ranked first among Stars forwards. Goaltender Cale Morris arrived on Saturday from the Chicago Steel, in time to pick up his 22nd career USHL victory. During 2013/14, Morris stopped 91% of the shots he faced and charted a 2.93 goals-against average during a 13-win rookie season. Last month, he was part of the U.S. Junior Select Team which won gold at the World Junior A Challenge in Saskatchewan.

"Shorties" in Pairs

One shorthanded goal seems to lead to another for the Hawks. John Wiitala had one Friday in Sioux Falls, then Henrik Rommel followed up with another on Saturday. Waterloo's other two "shorties" this season were also scored in consecutive games: October 31st by Brock Boeser and November 6th by Niko Hildenbrand.

Weekly Recap

The Hawks split a pair of games against the Sioux Falls Stampede, falling 7-3 on Friday, then winning 3-1 the next night. Forward Tyler Sheehy scored a goal in each game, including the winner Saturday.

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