The United States Hockey League schedule has started.  After neutral site games in the Pittsburgh area last week, the first home games of the season commence this weekend.  Elsewhere on the hockey landscape, NCAA matchups don't begin until next weekend.  The National Hockey League preseason is underway, but the games that count don't begin until next month.  Other North American professional leagues start a little later in mid-October.

If you're looking for hockey which has regular season intensity, turn your attention to the other side of the Atlantic.  The UK-based Elite Ice Hockey League is one of several European leagues where the puck has dropped already.  In addition to games which are part of the EIHL Challenge Cup in-season tournament, regular season action began when the Glasgow Clan defeated the Manchester Storm 3-2 last week.
 
Formed in 2003, the EIHL is the highest level of ice hockey competition in the UK.  Ten teams each play a 54-game slate at rinks in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Professional ice hockey has been played in Great Britain since the 1930s, and the Waterloo Black Hawks have regularly been represented by alumni there.  As this season begins, three former Waterloo players are on EIHL rosters.

Connor Caponi – Cardiff Devils

Caponi is about to play his first professional games after completing his college career at Denver last spring.  He spent two upperclassman seasons as a Pioneers alternate captain and won national championships with the program in 2022 and 2024.  Last February, he set the all-time Denver record for most career appearances.  Ironically, Caponi broke the school record set by Ryan Barrow, who is now his teammates in Cardiff (the two were teammates in Denver through the spring of 2022).

Last season, Caponi scored five goals and assisted on four more during 42 games.  That pushed his college totals to 18 goals and 19 assists across 185 contests.  The Pioneers went to three Frozen Fours during Caponi's NCAA career.

Although Cardiff's roots stretch back to the founding of the EIHL, only a limited number of Black Hawks have played there.  Goaltender Phil Osaer is one and spent three seasons in Wales.  

Caponi has played in four Challenge Cup games, averaging 12-and-a-half minutes of ice time.  The Devil's first league game is October 11th as they continue to skate in Cup competition between now and then.

Bryan Lemos – Nottingham Panthers

Lemos scored in Nottingham's first game on Wednesday.  He is returning to the EIHL this season, following a short stint with the Guildford Flames in 2023/24.  During nine games that winter, Lemos produced a goal and two assists.

Since his time with the Black Hawks in the 2014/15 season, the now-29-year-old played college hockey at Providence and has skated in the ECHL for most of his professional career.  For three seasons, Lemos was a teammate of current Waterloo Assistant Coach CJ Eick with the Kansas City Mavericks and Indy Fuel.  As a member of those two clubs, Lemos played in 394 ECHL regular season games.  He produced 80 goals and 171 assists, including a career-high 48 assists for Indy last season.  

Lemos also played briefly in the American Hockey League for the Providence Bruins.

The list of Hawks who have preceded Lemos in Nottingham is a little longer than those who have been through Cardiff.  Georgs Golovkovs was there as recently as 2019/20.  Andy Bohmbach helped the Panthers to a championship in 2016.  Nick Toneys and Alex Guptill also spent time in Nottingham.

Eamon McAdam – Sheffield Steelers

After several seasons bouncing between the ECHL and AHL - as well as time spent in the Denmark - McAdam has been finding EIHL success since 2022.  He spent three years with Guildford, posting a 47-41 record with two shutouts.  McAdam's save percentage was over .910 each of the last two seasons before he relocated to Sheffield.

When he made the move, McAdam was quoted as saying, "I loved my time in Guildford but my career had come to a point where I had to make some serious decisions. I put a strong focus on winning and the draw of playing for such a professional organization as the Steelers."

As has been the case during other summers, McAdam was back stateside this offseason, staying sharp while participating in the 3ICE league.  He has played in the three-against-three competition each of the last three years, giving him a unique professional hockey resume.

Tomas Petruska was the last Black Hawk in Sheffield, more than a decade ago in 2014/15.  Luke Fulghum skated there for a season in 2011/12.