Waterloo Black Hawks Weekly Preview
October 8, 2024 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Waterloo Black Hawks News Release
What Weekend?
As the work week ends for most people, the Black Hawks will just be getting started. Waterloo is in action Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Hawks begin on home ice against the Muskegon Lumberjacks on October 11th at 7:05 p.m. Last season, Waterloo and Muskegon split their two-game series, with each team winning at home. Saturday, the Hawks visit the Lincoln Stars at 6:05 p.m. The two teams have met in the USHL Clark Cup Playoffs each of the last three seasons, including the Stars' two-game sweep last April. Then Waterloo continues westward for a 3:05 p.m. Sunday contest with the Tri-City Storm. Tri-City has played more games than any Western Conference club (six), including three matchups which have gone to overtime. This weekend will be the first time Waterloo has played three games in three days during October since 2018.
Week After Week Against the West
The next seven weeks on Waterloo's schedule will be dominated by Western Conference tilts. Following Friday's non-conference encounter with Muskegon, 13 of the following 15 games pit the Hawks against a team from the West. It's a sequence which is likely to have a significant impact on the Hawks' final position in the standings. After the trend breaks on Thanksgiving, Waterloo will face a Western Conference opponent on just 17 other occasions during the last four-and-a-half months of the schedule.
Goalies Galore
The Black Hawks and their three weekend opponents have each benefitted from some excellent early-season goaltending. Waterloo's Calvin Vachon has a .943 save percentage across three appearances and ranks second in the USHL. However, he is only fractionally better than Muskegon veteran Shikhabutdin Gadzhiev, who ranks third (.941). Lincoln's Yan Shostak (.929) and Tri-City's Erick Roest (.920) are also among the 10 USHL netminders currently stopping at least 92 percent of the shots they face.
A Rare Overtime Setback
Waterloo fell to the Dubuque Fighting Saints 4-3 on Saturday. Prior to that, it had been a long time since the Black Hawks had surrendered a goal during a five-minute, three-on-three overtime period. Dubuque was also the last team to send the Hawks to a non-shootout OTL on April 2, 2022. The Fighting Saints claimed that one at Young Arena 2-1 on a goal by Stephen Halliday.
Recent Games
On Friday, the Hawks scored two power play goals in Des Moines, including Brendan McMorrow's go-ahead (eventually game-winning) redirection. It was one of two McMorrow goals in the 4-2 decision. Kaeden Hawkins, Sam Huck, and Teddy Townsend scored the next night, but Waterloo fell in Dubuque 3-2.
For complete box scores from previous Black Hawks games, visit ushl.com.
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