NCAA hockey begins this weekend. More than a half dozen former Waterloo Black Hawks who played college hockey last winter will be skating for a new program this year. Approximately twice as many Waterloo alumni go into their first NCAA seasons as freshmen. In total, 45 schools (of 63) have at least one Hawk on their roster.
Among the Hawks who have relocated, forward John Waldron has a big opportunity. After three seasons at Miami, the senior will wrap up his college eligibility at Arizona State. Waldron tied as the RedHawks' leading scorer in 2024/25. It's a cross-conference move, and it won't be long before Waldron returns to Oxford, Ohio; the Sun Devils visit Miami at the end of this month.
Miami and Minnesota State will each benefit from the services of two players who helped Waterloo reach the Clark Cup Final in the spring. Bradley Walker and Michael Phelan will each skate for the RedHawks. Meanwhile, Reid Morich and Easton Hewson are in Mankato. Their relatively close proximity to the Cedar Valley allowed them to be at Young Arena last Saturday to start this new season with a ceremonial puck drop.
Miami and Arizona State are among the programs on the ice this weekend. The defending National Champion Western Michigan Broncos play an exhibition against the US National Team Development Program. That will mean Sam Huck's earliest possible official college debut would be on October 9th against Ferris State. Zac Bade may also have new opportunities at Western Michigan this season after playing in two Broncos games last year.
Here is the full list of Waterloo alumni looking forward to the 2025/26 college hockey season.
Air Force – Mason McCormick
Alaska – Adam Cardona, Carson Reed, Calvin Vachon
Arizona State – Tucker Ness, John Waldron
Army – J.J. Cataldo
Augustana – Quinn Rudrud
Bemidji State – Jake McLean
Bowling Green –Adam Zlnka
Colgate – Jake Schneider
Colorado College – Gavin Lindberg
Connecticut – Kam Hendrickson
Dartmouth – Emmett Croteau
Denver – Garrett Brown, Brendan McMorrow
Ferris State – Nic Belpedio
Harvard – Casey Severo
Lake Superior State – Carter Batchelder, Hunter Ramos
Lindenwood – Jake Delaney
Long Island – Nate Benoit
Massachusetts – Landon Nycz
Massachusetts-Lowell – Niko Goich
Miami – Michael Phelan, Bradley Walker
Michigan – Ben Robertson, Garrett Schifsky
Michigan State – Patrick Geary, Gavin O'Connell
Michigan Tech – Owen Baker, Reid Daavettila, Tyler Miller
Minnesota – Teddy Townsend
Minnesota-Duluth – Aaron Pionk, Ryan Zaremba
Minnesota State – Easton Hewson, Reid Morich, Fin Williams
North Dakota – David Klee
Northeastern – Grayson Badger, Dylan Compton, Griffin Erdman
Northern Michigan – Jakub Altrichter, Matthew Argentina, Zach Michaelis
Notre Dame – Jaeden Kerr, Jack Williams
Ohio State – James Hong, Jake Rozzi
Omaha – Marcus Broberg, Myles Hilman
Penn State – Nicholas DeGraves, Nick Fascia
Princeton – Daniel Moor
Providence – John Mustard
Quinnipiac – Matthew Lansing
Sacred Heart – Ray Fust, Jack Spicer
St. Cloud State – Mason Reiners, Gavyn Thoreson, Cooper Wylie
St. Lawrence – Teddy Mallgrave
St. Thomas – Alex Gaffney
Stonehill – Teddy Lagerback
Union – Will Felicio, Jacob Jeannette
Vermont – Michael LaStarza, David Sacco, Daniel Sambuco
Western Michigan – Zach Bade, Sam Huck
Wisconsin – Grady Deering
Where Are They Now features are presented by Karen's Print Rite, 2515 Falls Avenue in Waterloo.
