USHL Waterloo Black Hawks

Waterloo Black Hawks Weekly Preview

February 15, 2022 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Waterloo Black Hawks News Release


Sioux Falls and Cedar Rapids This Weekend

The Black Hawks will play their 40th game of the season on Friday when the Sioux Falls Stampede (12-21-4) arrive at Young Arena at 7:05 p.m. The meeting will be the first since the teams traded forwards in early January; Waterloo acquired Ray Fust in exchange for Michael LaStarza. Through 10 games as a Hawk, Fust has three goals and four assists. Then Saturday, the Black Hawks travel to play the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (16-19-2) at 7:05 p.m. It will be the conclusion of a busy stretch for Cedar Rapids, after the RoughRiders visit the Green Bay Gamblers on Thursday and Friday.

An Unwanted Streak

On Friday, the Black Hawks seek to halt a three-game winless streak. Waterloo is 0-2-1 in that time. The Hawks also went three games without a victory once earlier this season. From October 8th through 15th, Waterloo had an identical 0-2-1 mark from games against Tri-City, Des Moines, and Omaha. A home win on October 16th spurred the Hawks' best five-game span of the year as the team went 4-1-0 the rest of that month.

Geary Hits High Gear

Defenseman Patrick Geary assisted on three of the four goals Waterloo scored last weekend. The only exception was Garrett Schifsky's unassisted shorthanded goal Friday at Dubuque. Friday's game was Geary's second multipoint performance of 2021/22 after posting two assists on October 23rd against the Lincoln Stars. He is now up to 10 points this year on two goals and eight assists. That total makes him the Black Hawks' highest-scoring rookie defenseman this season.

Croteau vs. Croteau

Last Saturday, goaltender Emmett Croteau made his 16th appearance of the season, equaling his total from 2020/21. He is 7-7-2 this year after producing a 7-6-0 record last season. In most respects, Croteau's numbers have improved season-over-season: he has played more minutes (902 versus 720), made more saves (400 compared with 344) at a higher percentage (.895 to .887) and owns a better goals-against average (3.13 against 3.67). He also earned his first USHL shutout January 22nd with 31 saves against Cedar Rapids.

Recent Games

The Black Hawks were outscored by a combined total of 5-0 during the third periods of a pair of weekend losses. On Friday, Waterloo had used a three-goal second period to take the lead against the Dubuque Fighting Saints. Dubuque answered with three in the third, for a 4-3 comeback result. Then Saturday against the Sioux City Musketeers, the teams were tied 1-1 through 40 minutes. Sioux City scored a late go-ahead goal, then followed-up with an empty-netter, putting the final score at 3-1.

For complete box scores from previous Black Hawks games, visit ushl.com.

Check out the Waterloo Black Hawks Statistics



United States Hockey League Stories from February 15, 2022


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central