Saturday, May 19, 2007

Waterloo Black Hawks 2007-08 Preview

Waterloo is coming off a hard fought loss in the championship game to Sioux Falls. They did beat Des Moines in a thriller the night before, but couldn't pull it off two nights in a row. P.K. O'Handley will have a good core to build around, most namely goalie Matt DiGirolamo.


Key Departures:
Joshua Turnbull-One of the best players on the team.
James Marcou-Led team in scoring with 72 points.
Kyle Reeds-Became a go to goal scorer.
Matt Arhontas-Team leader.
Ryan Cramer-Impressive rookie season.

Goalie (1):
Matt DiGirolamo (1988) - One of the top goalies in the league.

Goalie Evaluation:
DiGirolamo should be atop the goalie leaders again next season. Last season, he had to split time with Ryan Rondeau, but he should head into the new season as the team's go to guy.

Defense (3):
Jon Madden (1987) - Not very offensive, but effective.
Pasko Skarica (1987) - Solid year, but he's still pretty slow.
Blake Kessel (1989) - One of the team's best defensemen.
Mike Marcou (1989) - If he's anything like his brother, watch out.

Defense Evaluation:
Madden and Kessel will anchor the blue line for the Hawks. Skarica can come back, but was not protected. Waterloo will need plenty of help on the blue line come next season with the losses of Brett Barta, Vincent LoVerde, and John Lee.

Forwards (8):
Paul Weisgarber (1988) - Decent first year, had a huge goal against Cedar Rapids to close out the regular season.
Tim Gilbert (1987) - Not protected, but a gritty type player and a possible 3rd year guy.
Craig Smith (1989) - Seemed to become more physical as the season went on.
Brett Olson (1987) - Had a big year, really excelled in the playoffs.
Billy Maday (1988) - Bothered by injuries, should be ready for a full year of USHL hockey.
Keegan Meuer (1989) - Limited production in limited ice time.
Jan-Mikael Juutilainen (1988) - Time to show why he was an NHL draft pick.

Forward Evaluation:
Waterloo returns some excellent talent up front. Maday will compete for the team's points lead, while Smith and Weisgarber should double their output. Waterloo will need guys like Meuer and Juutilainen to mature and put up a few more points next season. Olson and Gilbert can be leaders for this team.

Futures Evaluation:
Waterloo boasts some of the best talents in their futures list. Leading the way are forwards Brock Montpetit, Mike Fink, and Andrew Hamburg, along with defenseman Chris Student. Eric Ringel had an excellent year in the NAHL, and he could be a wild card of making the Hawks out of camp.


Overall Evaluation: B-

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike Marcou plays D not forward and John Lee is gone

Ryan said...

was just going off of pointstreak and nowhere did I say Lee was back.

"with the losses of Brett Barta, Vincent LoVerde, and John Lee."

Anonymous said...

ok soory you do a good job keep it up

Ryan said...

fixed Marcou, thanks.

Anonymous said...

could be wrong but I am pretty sure Skarica will be in college next year

Ryan said...

what school?

Anonymous said...

i don't think he has a acolarship. and i don't know. just theard he was going to college from his housing parents

Anonymous said...

Pasco Skarica will be heading to Nebraska-Omaha, for sure!

Drew Mckenzie (88)Vermont, Chad Billins (89)Ferris State, Mike Montrose (91), Pat Wey (91) are supposed to be in the picture for 2007-2008 on the blue line.

Is John Lee (89) moving on to Denver or is he definitely back for another season?