Black Hawks Preview for Oct. 29-30

The Waterloo Black Hawks hit the road for two games this weekend. They return home November 7.

On the Road to Nebraska:
The Black Hawks square off against the Tri-City Storm at the Viaero Center in Kearney, Nebraska, Thursday and Friday evening. Under first-year Head Coach Bill Muckalt, the Storm are currently mid-pack in the USHL Western Conference, with a record of 4-4-1. Both clubs have played a majority of early season games against opponents from the West, encountering some difficulties in the process. Waterloo owns a 1-4-0 mark in conference games, while the Storm are 2-4-0. The Hawks’ trip to Tri-City this week is the only visit slated during 2015/16; the Storm make a return stopover in Waterloo for two games on January 8th and 9th.

Robert Finds Offensive Touch:
Defenseman Alex Robert played 80 USHL regular season games before scoring his first goal. That tally on March 1st against the Omaha Lancers was one of three points he notched for the Black Hawks last season. In just eight games this season, the Novi, Michigan, native already has three points. He recorded his second USHL goal on October 17th in Sioux Falls; there were just seven days between that score and another last Saturday against the Omaha Lancers. All six points Robert has been credited with as a member of the Black Hawks have come in games versus Western Conference opposition.

Above 88:
The Black Hawks and Storm have been two of the USHL’s top penalty killing teams during the first month of the season. Tri-City ranks second at 88.6%, while Waterloo is third at 88.2%. Both clubs are a fraction of a point behind the league-leading Omaha Lancers (88.9%). Compounding each team’s shorthanded success, the Hawks and Storm have some of the smallest penalty minute totals in the league. Tri-City’s 11.3 penalty minutes per game are the fewest in the league, while Waterloo ranks 14th at 13.9 PIM on average.

Luhmann Lights Lamp:
Hunter Luhmann scored his first regular season goal as a Black Hawk Saturday versus the Omaha Lancers. The former Madison Capitol recorded two goals and four assists last winter during his rookie season in Wisconsin. In addition to two points for the Hawks (one goal, one assist), Luhmann has posted an even or positive plus/minus differential in five of his six appearances for Waterloo.

Weekly Recap:
The Black Hawks scored in each period Saturday, but the Omaha Lancers used a three-goal surge in the opening minutes of the third period to claim a 4-3 decision. Alex Robert, Hunter Luhmann, and Yuri Terao each contributed a goal to the Waterloo offense. Four of six Hawks defeats in regulation or overtime have been by one goal. The final deficit in the other games was two goals, in both cases, because of empty net tallies.