USHL Waterloo Black Hawks

Tournament Time this Week

Published on March 27, 2024 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Waterloo Black Hawks News Release


Waterloo, Iowa - Current Black Hawks, Waterloo alumni, coaches, and fans all have rooting interests as the NCAA Division I hockey tournament begins Thursday.

Eleven of the 16 qualifying teams include at least one former Waterloo Black Hawk, with a total of 21 previous Hawks on their collective rosters. That includes a pair of skaters who have previously won national championships: Aaron Bohlinger (2021, Massachusetts) and Connor Caponi (2022, Denver).

In addition, eight current Waterloo players are committed to schools with Frozen Four aspirations: Connor Brown (Western Michigan), Grady Deering (Wisconsin), Will Felicio (Denver), Myles Hilman (Omaha), Tyler Miller (Michigan Tech), Jackson Nevers (Minnesota), Landon Nycz (Massachusetts), and Teddy Townsend (Minnesota). Black Hawks coaches Matt Smaby (North Dakota), Brett Olson (Michigan Tech), and C.J. Eick (Michigan Tech) will be intently cheering for their alma maters.

Big Ten Tournament Champion Michigan State fields the roster with the most former Black Hawks. The group of four Waterloo alumni includes three freshmen who were skating in the Cedar Valley last season: Owen Baker, Patrick Geary, and Gavin O'Connell, as well as junior David Gucciardi. Meanwhile, North Dakota and Denver each have three former Hawks. The top overall seed Boston College Eagles include Jacob Bengtsson on the blue line; Bengtsson played in Waterloo during the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons.

The Black Hawks are assured of having at least one alum reach the Frozen Four. Each of the four teams competing in the Maryland Heights, Missouri, regional includes a former Waterloo player on their roster.

A complete list of participating Black Hawks alumni follows below, ordered by the date and time of each first round game.

Thursday, March 28th, 1 p.m. - Massachusetts vs. Denver

Massachusetts - Aaron Bohlinger

Denver - Garrett Brown, Connor Caponi, Miko Matikka

Thursday, March 28th, 4 p.m. - RIT vs. Boston University

RIT - None

Boston University - None

Thursday, March 28th, 4:30 p.m. - Cornell vs. Maine

Cornell - Ondrej Psenicka, Ben Robertson

Maine - None

Thursday, March 28th, 7:30 p.m. - Omaha vs. Minnesota

Omaha - Ray Fust

Minnesota - Sam Rinzel, Charlie Strobel

Friday, March 29th, 1 p.m. - Michigan Tech vs. Boston College

Michigan Tech - None

Boston College - Jacob Bengtsson

Friday, March 29th, 4 p.m. - Western Michigan vs. Michigan State

Western Michigan - Joe Cassetti, Wyatt Schingoethe

Michigan State - Owen Baker, Patrick Geary, David Gucciardi, Gavin O'Connell

Friday, March 29th, 4:30 p.m. - Quinnipiac vs. Wisconsin

Quinnipiac - Nick Wallace

Wisconsin - None

Friday, March 29th, 7:30 p.m. - North Dakota vs. Michigan

North Dakota - Nate Benoit, Dane Montgomery, Griffin Ness

Michigan - Garrett Schifsky

Thursday's winners will advance to their respective regional championships on Saturday, while teams that move on from Friday victories will return to the ice on Sunday.

Since 2016, 17 former Hawks have been part of an NCAA championship team.

Check out the Waterloo Black Hawks Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from March 27, 2024


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