Waterloo Blackhawks

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The Waterloo Blackhawks are a Tier 1 junior ice hockey team playing in the East Division of the United States Hockey League (USHL).

The Blackhawks' home ice is the Young Arena located in Waterloo, Iowa.

[edit] Franchise History

1980 Season

Newspaper tidbits: What’s showing.... Hillcrest - “The Jerk” starring Steve Martin, Regent - “Kramer vs. Kramer” starring Dustin Hoffman. Reggie Jackson is playing for the Yank’s. The Waterloo Indians beat Wisconsin Rapids 7-5. Names in the boxscore, two talented 1st basemen, future Phillie Von Hayes and for Wisconsin Rapids future Twin Kent Hrbek. In golf, George Burns and Leonard Thompson lead the Hawaiian Open with a total purse of $325,000. Drake basketball’s Lewis Lloyd is the nations 2nd leading scorer. April 1980

April: After a year of less than desirable attendance, 1st year owner Jack Barzee decides to put the Waterloo Black Hawks franchise up for sale. Barzee wants to put a new team in Dubuque or move the Waterloo franchise there. Barzee came to Waterloo in 1965 as a player. Later he became the team's general manager in 1973. In 1977 he became the head coach of the Black Hawks and won the league title in his first two full years of coaching.

If a deal can be worked out, a Waterloo group will be the fifth owners of the franchise since it was founded in 1962. Northeast Iowa Sports Inc., a nonprofit group started the team. The ownership changed hands in 1973 to Black Hawks Enterprises, Inc. When that corporation disbanded in 1977, and a buyer could not be found the USHL backed the franchise through a series of loan guarantees. That arrangement lasted for two years before Barzee purchased the club in the spring of 1979.

Bill Kammeyer a spokesman for the Waterloo group wants to buy the club and keep it in Waterloo. Kammeyer's group wants to be non-profit organization and sale shares in the club for $250. Kammeyer's group has also talked to Ed Starkey about coaching the team in the upcoming season. Starkey played for the Black Hawks before skating in the Eastern Professional League. Another candidate is Oakie Brumm who coached Waterloo in the early 1960's.

Barzee started thinking about a USHL franchise in Dubuque when the Black Hawks played five league games in the new Five Flags Civic Center last year. "We drew 5,100 people in there in five games," said Barzee. "We started with just 650 at the first game and it gradually grew to 1,300. That last crowd came on a Wednesday night game with just and eight days notice". (How ironic that a crowd of that size can't support a USHL team in the year 2000)

A team in Dubuque would bring the number of Iowa teams in the USHL to four. Des Moines will join the league for the 1980-81 season. That would make eight teams in the USHL located in Waterloo, Sioux City, Des Moines, Dubuque, Green Bay, Wis., Austin, Min., Bloomington, Min., and St. Paul, Min.

May: Twenty-eight people pledge to buy $250 shares in the Waterloo USHL franchise. A total of 40 $250 shares would be needed to match Jack Barzee's asking price of $10,000. Each $250 share includes one season ticket.

The USHL president Ron Woody informs the Waterloo group they have until May 16th to come up with a purchase agreement so the team can play in the 1980-81 season.

Northeast Iowa Hockey, Inc. is formed with 44 initial shareholders. Fourteen are chosen as board members. The board elects Dana Harlem its president, Bill Kammeyer vice president, Butch Cook Secretary and Bill Abbas treasurer. An attorney for the group informs the USHL that they cannot get the necessary legal paper work ready by the 16th. The USHL informs Northeast Iowa Hockey, Inc that unless the purchase agreement is finalized by the 16th they can not send a representative to the May USHL meeting in Sioux City to complete the schedule for the upcoming season. Emergency meetings are held through the final hours resulting in an agreement being reached by Northeast Iowa Hockey to purchase the franchise.

Cost of the purchase to NIH has been placed at $10,000 with about $6,000 the purchase price of the Hennepin franchise. The Hennepin Nordiques decided to cease operations at the end of last year. The remaining $4,000 will go to Barzee to purchase the Waterloo Black Hawks assets. Barzee will then move the former Waterloo franchise to Dubuque. Waterloo will acquire the same recruiting territory that the Hennepin franchise had.

A $10,000 franchise fee for a seat at the league's May scheduling meeting is required too. Des Moines has hired a coach and has already sold 300 season tickets. It cost Des Moines $9,500 to start up a new franchise and get into the USHL next season. That is broken down into a $7,000 payment to the league for the franchise, plus $2,000 new team performance bond and an additional $500 investment fee. Pledges to buy a $250 share in the Black Hawks has now reached 67 people.

July: NIH estimates it will need 1,300 fans per game to break even. Last season the Black Hawks average 1,100. Ticket prices are set to $4.50 for the first five rows at McElroy Auditorium. Then remaining rows will be $3.50. Season tickets for the 24 game schedule will be $95. NIH's goal is to sale 650 season tickets which is 200 more than the previous year.

Five candidates for the new coaching position are Oakie Brumm, Ed Starkey, George McPhee (all past Black Hawks), Dan Justin (Hennepin coach) and Mark Lambert (St Paul coach). NIH selects former Black Hawk goaltender George McPhee as the new head coach and general manager. McPhee favors a style of play with emphasis on strong defense and goaltending with a "controlled shooting offense". Born in Waltham, Mass. McPhee played for Boston College and still holds many of the school's goaltending records. McPhee played three seasons in the late 1970's for the Black Hawks and was an all-league performer. McPhee coached the Junior Hawks bantams (13-14 year olds) for one and a half seasons. McPhee also taught accounting for four and a half years at Hawkeye Institute of Technology before entering the home improvement business.

McPhee selects Waterloo car dealer George Morris as his assistant coach. Morris , a 33-year-old native of Detroit, played Division I college hockey at Northeastern. Morris plans to primarily assist McPhee in morning practices and home games.

2003 Season

The Cup Comes to Waterloo!: The Waterloo Black Hawks have finally won the United States Hockey League's Clark Cup.

Opportunity had to knock twice, but the Black Hawks were there to answer Wednesday night at Young Arena with a thrilling, 2-1, victory over the heavily favored Tri-City Storm in the league's postseason championship series.

Denied by a late goal on its home ice Tuesday, Waterloo made the most of a second chance Wednesday with another sellout crowd of more than 3,500 on hand hoping to be part of the franchises first championship in 25 years of Junior A hockey.

The Black Hawks didn't disappoint them in their final home appearance of the season.

The team that many said didn't belong in the best-of-five championship series after barely qualifying for the playoffs, silenced its doubters with another determined postseason performance.

Tri-City grabbed a 1-0 lead late in the opening period on a goal by Tom Pohl, and that's where the score remained until midway through the second when Mike Radja tied it for Waterloo.

A relentless final 20 minutes sealed the deal.

After a series of close calls, Joel Hanson found a way to get the puck past stingy Storm goalie Eric Aarnio with 8:48 remaining. That was all Black Hawks goalie Kevin Regan needed as he weathered the Storm the rest of the way.

United States Hockey League
East Division: Cedar Rapids RoughRiders • Chicago Steel • Green Bay Gamblers • Indiana Ice • Ohio Junior Blue Jackets • Waterloo Blackhawks West Division: Des Moines Buccaneers • Lincoln Stars • Omaha Lancers • Sioux City Musketeers • Sioux Falls Stampede • Tri-City Storm