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USHL Waterloo Black Hawks

Waterloo Black Hawks Weekly Preview, Sep 21, 2021

September 21, 2021 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Waterloo Black Hawks News Release


USHL Fall Classic

The Black Hawks begin their new season with two games during the United States Hockey League's Fall Classic at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. Between Thursday and Sunday, all 16 USHL clubs will play twice at the event. This is the third time the games during the Fall Classic have counted toward the league's regular season standings. The gathering was not held in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Waterloo will meet the Green Bay Gamblers and Youngstown Phantoms on Thursday and Friday respectively. During the 2020/21 season, the Hawks fell to Green Bay by 2-1 (December 11th) and 5-0 (March 28th) scores. Waterloo did not play Youngstown last winter and most recently faced the Phantoms on February 29, 2020 for a 5-1 road victory.

New Staff

A new Black Hawks coaching staff was introduced in July and August. Thursday's game versus Green Bay will be Matt Smaby's debut as head coach. The former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman has previous coaching experience as an assistant with professional European club EC Salzburg. Smaby will be assisted by Chad Kolarik and PD Melgoza. Kolarik played for Smaby in Salzburg at the conclusion of a pro career which had included appearances with the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers. Melgoza joined the Black Hawks organization after working for the University of Alaska-Anchorage.

Third-Year Players

Three Black Hawks skaters are each in their third full season with the organization. Defenseman Mason Reiners has been in the lineup for 105 career regular season contests. The steady defender recently committed to St. Cloud State University. Forwards John Waldron and Jacob Jeannette have each been limited by injury during their time with the team. Waldron was sidelined for the final 30 games of 2020/21, while Jeannette has played in 62 of a possible 102 contests since the beginning of 2019/20.

Western Conference-Focus

Once again this season, the Waterloo schedule is laden with games versus Western Conference rivals. The 62-game slate includes 46 in-conference matchups. This week's games are the only occasions when the Hawks will meet Green Bay or Youngstown. Waterloo also faces Madison once in addition to seven games versus Dubuque and six against Cedar Rapids, for 16 tilts versus Eastern Conference foes.

Last Season

Eight of Waterloo's first 10 games were postponed last season, and the Hawks had trouble recovering. However, the club's late-season performance showed improvement. Even though Waterloo missed the playoffs, they won five of their final seven games.

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