Beginning this weekend, Waterloo Black Hawks players will wear a new insignia on their helmets, commemorating the life and impact of the late Dave Swick.
In June, the former Black Hawks forward and coach died at age 88. Swick played for Waterloo during many of the team's early seasons, later transitioning behind the bench. He also worked with the community's youth and high school programs. The memorial logo will appear on Black Hawks helmets for the remainder of the season. It features Swick's #19 and a silhouette of the Mackinac Bridge, which Swick helped to build during his off-ice career as an iron worker in Michigan.
"Dave Swick made a tremendous impression on Waterloo fans; he wasn't the biggest player, but he played with a spirit that the crowds at McElroy Auditorium loved," said Black Hawks President and COO Joe Greene. "Many of us got to know Dave in recent years when he would stop into our office. We miss those visits and the great stories he used to tell, and we hope this remembrance will resonate with everyone who was a fan of Dave Swick, both the player and the person."
Swick did not begin playing organized hockey until he was 12. The Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, native advanced to senior hockey in Michigan's Upper Peninsula before being recruited to join the Black Hawks at age 25 in 1963. The 5-foot, 4-inch Swick was a member of all five Waterloo championship teams during the 1960s, as the Hawks claimed the league title in successive seasons from 1963/64 through 1967/68. Swick was voted team captain in 1967 and held that role through his retirement in 1972.
A Black Hawks game program of the era noted, "He was rugged for his size and was always a leading scorer at the center position…Dave has always been a crowd pleaser plus being well liked by his teammates."
After retiring, Swick coached the Black Hawks from 1973/74 through the early weeks of 1976/77. He was named the USHL Coach of the Year after his first season. Waterloo reached the league's championship series that spring, then again in 1975, finishing as runners up to the Thunder Bay Twins. After leaving the Black Hawks bench, he became the venerable head coach of the Waterloo Warriors high school team well into the next decade.
In the late 1950s – when Swick was as a similar age to many current Black Hawks players – he was a tradesman who joined the crews at work on the monumental Mackinac Bridge. The engineering marvel links Michigan's lower and upper peninsulas over the Straits of Mackinac, which flow between Lake Michigan and Lake Ontario. Even after nearly 70 years, it remains one of the 30 longest bridges in the world and takes approximately eight minutes to cross in a vehicle operating at the posted speed limit. Built for nearly $100 million (approximately $1.2 billion today), the Mackinac Bridge opened to traffic in November 1957.
Fan will see the commemorative emblem for the first time Saturday when the Black Hawks host the Des Moines Buccaneers at 6:35 p.m. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a Black Hawks magnetic schedule from Tyson Fresh Meats. For seats, call the Domino's Black Hawks Box Office at (319) 291-7680 or visit tickets.waterlooblackhawks.com.
