Seniors to Juniors

A Collection of Waterloo Hockey Stories

De: Tim Harwood

Narrado por: Tim Harwood

Waterloo, Iowa, is a long way from hockey hubs like Boston or Toronto, but the game has a colorful history in this city of almost 70,000 on the Cedar River. Scouts found future stars like U.S. Olympian Joe Pavelski and Stanley Cup champion Brandon Montour playing at Young Arena for the Black Hawks. Other skaters who haven’t reached the NHL often have stories which are equally remarkable, poignant, or inspiring…

• A former defenseman who left the rink to become a NASCAR driver
• A Japanese forward who came to Iowa via Czech Republic, dreaming of representing his country in the Olympics
• An NCAA champion with remarkable potential on and off the ice, lost to a brain tumor before age 28

These stories and more than three dozen others have been collected across 20 years. They follow the evolving history of the game from before Jeff, Jack, and Steve Carlson (alias “The Hanson Brothers”) were nearly Black Hawks to recent Waterloo Captain Reid Morich hiding in plain sight as he worked a side job in the community. Some of the featured personalities have spent a lifetime in the game, like 2021 Lester Patrick Trophy winner Jack Barzee, while others have gone from hockey success to new pursuits, like former NCAA champion – now food columnist – Parker Milner.

Hearing about hockey is not the same as being at the rink on game night, but these stories present a portrait of a small city’s team, playing a sport that has been ever-changing and always exhilarating.

©2007, 2025 Tim Harwood (P)2025 Tim Harwood

Good collection of junior hockey stories

The United States Hockey League (USHL) is a junior hockey league for players age 16-20 and has been around for several decades. The most successful franchise through its history is the Waterloo (Iowa) Black Hawks with 9 championships. This audio book written by Tim Harwood (who also is the narrator) provides a good look at the team and several of its players over the years.

Using various sources such as the team’s website and its magazine, Harwood puts together a good collection of various stories. Like any collection, there are some clunkers as well as the good ones, but overall, this was quite interesting. I was hooked at the beginning with the story of one of the best alumni of the Black Hawks, Joe Pavelski, who was a member of the 2020 Stars team that reached the Stanley Cup Finals and enjoyed an 18 year NHL career with the Stars and San Jose Sharks. Stories like that one and those of the Black Hawks history, such as when they got a new arena, were the best of this collection.

One aspect of non-fiction audiobooks I always appreciate is that when the author is also the narrator, it lends an aura of authenticity to the book. That certainly was the case here as the narration was not only crisp and easy to listen to, but it also gave off a vibe of certainty. Meaning to me, the author was very knowledgeable on the subject and it could be told in his voice. It was a quick, enjoyable listen as I drove to see college hockey games.

I wish to thank Mr. Harwood for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.