Waterloo Black Hawks Weekly Preview
January 14, 2019 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Waterloo Black Hawks News Release
Done This Before...Sort of
This Tuesday night, the Black Hawks host the Sioux City Musketeers (7:05 p.m.). Friday and Saturday, Waterloo meets the Dubuque Fighting Saints for a home-and-home series which opens at Mystique Ice Center (both games begin at 7:05 p.m.). If the scheduling seems familiar, it's because the Hawks met the same opponents in an identical sequence between October 30th and November 3rd with only the venues reversed. Back then, Waterloo won a Tuesday game in Sioux City, 6-5 in overtime. When the weekend arrived, the Hawks and Saints split their meetings, 6-1 and 4-3 respectively, with the home team prevailing each night. Since those games, Waterloo fell in Sioux City, 4-2 on November 21st, but the Hawks have not faced Dubuque since the first weekend in November.
The 20-Win Threshold
The Black Hawks have been denied their 20th win of the season three times with losses to the Lincoln Stars and Tri-City Storm twice. The sequence marks the first time Waterloo has lost three consecutive regular season games in regulation in more than a year: December 8, 9, and 15, 2017, all versus the Fargo Force. A 4-0 shutout versus Fargo in the third of those games was the last time the Hawks had been shutout until Friday's 3-0 defeat by Tri-City. Waterloo halted last winter's skein on December 16, 2017 with a 4-1 victory over the Force. Solag Bakich scored the first goal in the win, and Hank Sorensen contributed two assists.
Positive Palmer
Last weekend, the Black Hawks were outscored 8-2 in aggregate by the Tri-City Storm. Nonetheless, Mason Palmer was +1, one of just three Waterloo skaters in positive territory (Vladislav Firstov and Brock Paul were the others). Palmer is now +20 for the year, and tied for third league-wide in plus/minus. He has been either positive or even in each of his last 11 appearances. Palmer will likely make his 150th USHL regular season appearance this week (currently, he has played in 148 games); he is a career +45 skater.
Absence of Overtime
It's been over two months since the Hawks edged the Green Bay Gamblers 3-2 in overtime on November 10th. That was the last time Waterloo has been on the ice beyond the end of regulation. The recent trend is in contrast to the early part of the schedule. The Hawks played seven overtime games in the first seven weeks.
Weekly Recap
Friday, all three Tri-City goals came on the power play as the Hawks were downed 3-0 at Viaero Center. In a follow up the next night, Joe Cassetti scored twice - both on assists from Matej Blumel - but the Storm prevailed again, 5-2. Combining the games, Waterloo outshot Tri-City 82-53.
United States Hockey League Stories from January 14, 2019
- Three Storm Players Receive USHL Player of Week Honors - Tri-City Storm
- Waterloo Black Hawks Weekly Preview - Waterloo Black Hawks
- USHL Names Players of the Week for Week 16 - USHL
- Superhero Night Benefiting Akron Children's Hospital Mahoning Valley January 19th - Youngstown Phantoms
- Saints Partner with John Deere Dubuque Works to Promote Diversity and Inclusion - Dubuque Fighting Saints
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Other Recent Waterloo Black Hawks Stories
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- The Series Is Even
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