About the Hawks
THEN – The Waterloo Black Hawks were founded as a semi-professional “senior” team in 1962. The Hawks were successful with local fans immediately, and the team won its first league championship in just their second year together. In fact, from 1963/64 through 1967/68, Waterloo won five consecutive USHL titles. The sport became so popular locally, that in 1969/70, the Minnesota North Stars moved their top affiliate club to Waterloo. However, the Black Hawks returned after just one season and continued to thrill fans into the 1970’s. With a roster of older skaters who had played in college or juniors, the squad battled not only their USHL rivals but faced four different U.S. Olympic teams (1964, ‘68, ‘72, and ‘76). Then in 1977, the USHL merged with the Midwest Junior Hockey League and began the conversion to an all-junior format. The Black Hawks lifted two more playoff trophies in the springs of 1978 and 1979 during the league’s transitional years.
NOW – Although the change to junior competition led to some ups-and-downs for Waterloo hockey, the arrival of Head Coach P.K. O’Handley in 2002 signaled a return to excellence. The Hawks set a club record for victories in O’Handley’s first season and claimed the Clark Cup the next year. It was the first of five appearances in the finals during O’Handley’s tenure. Waterloo also won the league’s Anderson Cup in 2006/07, then again in 2013/14 and 2017/18 and has been named USHL Organization of the Year three times.
In 2002, the United States Hockey League, became the nation’s only Tier I junior circuit. Tier I junior status attracts the top college-bound players, because it provides the broadest on-ice, academic, and social support while still allowing elite players to maintain NCAA eligibility. Professional hockey has also taken notice of Waterloo as quality place for talent to develop; since 2003, 61 Black Hawks have been selected by National Hockey League teams during the NHL Draft.
HOCKEY OPERATIONS
BRYN CHYZYK
General Manager
Former University of North Dakota forward Bryn Chyzyk was named the Waterloo Black Hawks’ General Manager entering the 2021/22 campaign, his second season with the Black Hawks organization.
At the end of the 2022/23 campaign, he was honored as the USHL’s General Manager of the Year in a vote by his peers. Chyzyk helped build a talented Black Hawks roster, which by the end of the season included five previously selected NHL Draft picks. Two other Hawks players were subsequently chosen during the 2023 NHL Draft.
As a college senior in 2015/16, Chyzyk was as assistant captain and helped the Fighting Hawks to the NCAA title, notching a dozen goals and 22 total points. His teammates that year included former Hawks Brock Boeser, Hayden Shaw, and Cameron Johnson. Chyzyk also played with former Waterloo captain Andrew Panzarella at UND. After skating in Grand Forks, Chyzyk spent the 2016/17 season with the Rockford IceHogs (AHL) and Indy Fuel (ECHL). He had previously played one season in the USHL with the Fargo Force.
Following his playing career, Chyzyk attended the University of North Dakota School of Law. He graduated with his Juris Doctor degree in May 2020. During his final year in law school, Chyzyk also served as the graduate assistant coach for the UND Men’s Hockey Program.
Chyzyk initially joined the Black Hawks’ staff as Director of Scouting in October of 2020.
MATT SMABY
Head Coach
The Black Hawks announced Smaby’s hiring on July 27, 2021. During his playing career, Smaby celebrated notable achievements as an amateur, climbed to the NHL, and was a productive player on the ice as recently as 2017. His coaching credentials cover a wide spectrum of ages and ability levels, working on the bench in both the United States and abroad.
Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Smaby’s abilities brought him to perennial hockey powerhouse Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault, Minnesota. As a defenseman for the Sabres, he earned a USA Hockey national championship in 2003. That summer, Smaby was chosen with the 41st overall selection by the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second round of the NHL Draft.
Advancing to college hockey for the next three seasons, Smaby joined another routinely strong program, the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. In two of his three NCAA campaigns, North Dakota qualified for the Frozen Four, finishing as national runners-up in 2005. Smaby appeared in 129 college games, producing six goals and 23 assists. During his third year with the program, he was recognized on the All-WCHA Third Team, as well as earning conference All-Academic Team honors.
Signing with the Lightning out of college, Smaby spent his first professional season in the American Hockey League. He debuted for Tampa Bay on October 4, 2007 versus the New Jersey Devils as the Lightning celebrated a 3-1 season opening win. Smaby played in 13 additional NHL games that winter. The 2008/09 season was the most prolific of Smaby’s NHL career, as he appeared in 43 games with four assists. In total over parts of four seasons, Smaby took the ice on 122 occasions for the Lightning and notched six assists.
During the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons, Smaby played in the AHL for the Syracuse Crunch and Norfolk Admirals respectively. His career took a new turn in during the summer of 2013, when he joined HC Munich of the German Ice Hockey League. Smaby spent his final four seasons as a professional with the Red Bulls, helping the Bavarian club to DEL championships in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons. All totaled, he dressed for nearly 500 professional regular season games across all leagues and levels.
Smaby’s coaching career began with a homecoming to his alma mater. Prior to the 2017/18 college season, he started a two-year stint on the staff at North Dakota. Simultaneously completing his degree in communications, Smaby’s return at North Dakota provided a springboard back to Europe, but this time behind the bench. In 2019/20 he was an assistant for the Salzburg Red Bulls in Austria’s top league. Stateside amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020/21 Smaby led the Grand Forks Youth Hockey Program.
His first season with the Black Hawks was highlighted by a 2022 playoff upset in the three-versus-six opening round series against the Lincoln Stars. The Hawks boosted their 2022/23 win total to 40-21-1 during Smaby’s second season in charge. It was only the third time in organizational history that a Waterloo squad has won 40 regular season games. Smaby led Waterloo to another 35 victories in 2023/24, including the 100th regular season win of his career on March 23rd against the Tri-City Storm.
BRETT OLSON
BRETT OLSONAssistant Coach
After first coming to Waterloo in 2005, Olson was voted team captain during the 2007/08 season. He held the same role as an upperclassman at Michigan Tech, then began a 10-year professional career in 2012, playing in the American Hockey League and Europe.
As a Black Hawk, Olson skated in 151 regular season games, producing 35 goals and 56 assists. He was a member of Watrerloo’s 2006/07 Anderson Cup Championship team. Olson also took the ice for two Hawks squads which played for the Clark Cup, skating in 20 total postseason games with six goals and 11 assists.
From Waterloo, Olson advanced to Michigan Tech. He finished either first or second in scoring for the Huskies during three of his four NCAA seasons, notching 42 goals and 51 assists in 127 games.
At the professional level, Olson debuted with the Abbotsford Heat in the fall of 2012. After two seasons in British Columbia, his next two campaigns were under contract with the NHL’s Florida Panthers, skating for their AHL affiliates in San Antonio and Portland, Maine. All totaled, Olson played in over 500 professional regular season games, notching 286 points (116 goals, 170 assists), including six years in either Germany or Austria.
Prior to becoming a fulltime coach, Olson assisted during Waterloo Orientation and Futures Camps beginning when he was still a player at Michigan Tech. He is also the founder and head instructor for the Twin Ports Pro Development Camp in Superior, Wisconsin, as well as the Professional Development Camp here in Waterloo.
CJ EICK
CJ EICKAssistant Coach
Eick followed the path of many players who come to the USHL: skate in junior hockey, produce at the college level, then take the ice as a pro. After a year of coaching experience at Trinity College in Connecticut, he returned to the USHL and joined the Black Hawks staff ahead of the 2023/24 season.
Eick began his junior career with the North American Hockey League’s St. Louis Bandits in 2009/10. He returned to his home region in northeastern Wisconsin during the following two seasons, producing 29 points in 113 regular season games for the Green Bay Gamblers. Eick was a member of Green Bay’s 2012 Clark Cup Championship team and also appeared in the 2011 championship series.
During a four-season stint at Michigan Tech, Eick helped the Huskies to the 2015 NCAA Tournament during his junior year, scoring a goal in the Huskies’ regional overtime loss to St. Cloud State. Overall, he played in 145 college games, recording 14 goals and 38 assists. Away from the ice, Eick graduated from Michigan Tech with a bachelor’s degree in sports and fitness management. He began establishing his coaching resume as an instructor for the Michigan Tech Hockey School.
Eick had a notable professional playing career, signing with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL and later appearing as a member of the league’s Kansas City Mavericks and Indy Fuel. Eick skated in 381 regular season games, notching 42 goals and 56 assists.
Wearing an assistant coaches’ whistle for the first time in 2022/23, Eick helped Trinity to a first-place tie in the NCAA Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference. Overall, the Bantams were 16-8-1. The program led the NESCAC in scoring (3.2 goals per game) and scoring defense (1.4 goals allowed per game).
ANDERS FRANKE
ANDERS FRANKEDirector of Goaltending
Anders Franke joined the Waterloo Black Hawks’ hockey operations staff as the team’s director of goaltending at the outset of the 2023/24 season.
Franke has been a goaltending coach since 2016, shortly after his own college career ended due to injury. Franke is responsible for day-to-day coaching for Waterloo goalies, both through video and on-ice work. He also works with the organization to scout and evaluate future goaltenders.
Following a successful high school career in Elk River, Minnesota, Franke joined the Flint Generals of the NA3HL. In 2013/14 he was that league’s Goalie of the Year, helping Flint to USA Hockey’s Tier III National Junior Tournament. Franke left the ice as a player the next season due to a severe injury sustained while playing for St. John’s (MN) University.
Graduating with a business degree, Franke combined his goaltending and entrepreneurial knowledge to found Pinnacle Goalie Development. He concurrently serves as goaltending director of MEGA Goaltending in Minneapolis, where he works with netminders of all ages. Franke’s efforts for the NA3HL’s Granite City Lumberjacks beginning in 2016 helped the team to a pair of Fraser Cup Championships. He has also coached goalies for the NAHL’s Kenai River Brown Bears, the St. Cloud State women’s hockey program, and his alma mater, St. John’s.
