KEVIN GIBSON
General Manager
The Black Hawks hired Gibson at the outset of the 2025 offseason following a six-year stint as a scout for the Detroit Red Wings.
The Michigan native spent the prior six seasons working for his hometown team. His initial focus with the Red Wings centered on college hockey free agents. However, beginning 2021 his assignment was shifted to NHL draft-eligible players. In that time, Gibson developed extensive connections in the midget and junior hockey communities across North America and the wider hockey world. In addition to assessing on-ice abilities, Gibson was also tasked with evaluating the character of pro hockey prospects.
His playing career included time in the United States Hockey League with the Sioux City Musketeers before advancing to the college and professional ranks. At the junior level, the defenseman dressed for over 170 regular season and playoff games from 2008/09 through 2010/11 in the North American Hockey League and USHL.
Moving on to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Gibson helped the Pointers to a pair of Division III national runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2015. He was recognized as an All-American during his senior season, graduating a few months later with a degree in Business Management. Gibson’s time on the ice in pro hockey included four seasons in the ECHL.
BRETT OLSON
Head Coach
Olson was named the Hawks' head coach on May 19, 2026 after starting his fulltime coaching career with the organization in the fall of 2022. Olson also played in Waterloo for three seasons from 2005 to 2008. He was voted Waterloo's team captain during 2007/08, then held the same role as an upperclassman at Michigan Tech before beginning a 10-year professional career in 2012, skating 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 Waterloo'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 was also the founder and head instructor for the Twin Ports Pro Development Camp in Superior, Wisconsin, as well as Olson Hockey Development, which hosts a camp here in Waterloo.
TROY GROSENICK
Goaltending Coach
Grosenick joined the Black Hawks ahead of the 2026/27 season.
As a player, he spent two successful seasons with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, then went on to reach the National Hockey League, appearing for the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings.
The Wisconsin native won 39 regular season games across 68 USHL appearances in 2008/09 and 2009/10. In each season, Grosenick ranked among the league’s top ten goalies for both save percentage and goals-against average. He posted five career shutouts and was also the winning goalie during the 2010 USHL All-Star Game played at Pepsi Coliseum in Indianapolis.
Grosenick advanced to Union College and was a member of the Dutchmen’s NCAA Tournament teams in each of his three years on campus. As a sophomore, Grosenick won 22 games, and Union reached the 2012 Frozen Four. Joining the San Jose Sharks organization, Grosenick made his NHL debut on November 16, 2014, posting a 45-save shutout during a 2-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Grosenick would play in four career NHL games, delivering a 2-2-0 record and .933 save percentage.
He played a total of 11 American Hockey League seasons and was winner of the 2017 Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s goaltender of the year. That was one of two instances where Grosenick was selected as a First or Second Team AHL All-Star. He was also honored with the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as AHL Man of the Year in 2020. In 324 AHL regular season contests, Grosenick went 169-101-32, delivering 21 shutouts and a career .913 save percentage.
MIKE BROWN
Senior Advisor
Few people have ties to Cedar Valley hockey in the way Mike Brown is connected with the game here.
He was among the earliest youth hockey participants in programs set up by the Waterloo Recreation Commission in the 1960s. Brown went on to coach many skaters at the youth and high school levels during the decades which followed, while simultaneously building a successful career at John Deere.
Brown was the Black Hawks’ co-head coach for parts of two seasons. Working in tandem with Scott Murphy, Brown led Waterloo from the mid-stages of the 1981/82 season through the end of 1982/83. The arrangement – while Brown and Murphy continued to work their fulltime jobs – helped the Black Hawks find more stable footing in the tenuous early years of all-junior rosters.
Whether formally or informally, Brown has provided insight and perspective to Black Hawks coaching staffs throughout the past two decades. His unique contributions to Waterloo hockey are recognized with a banner above Section N.
JUSTIN GREENE
Hockey Operations Assistant
Greene joined the Black Hawks staff ahead of the 2025/26 season. Working closely with Waterloo’s coaches, he manages a range of responsibilities, including video scouting and analysis.
A former Waterloo Warriors high school hockey player, Greene has assisted at several hockey summer camps in Minnesota.
SPENSER POPINGA
Director of Sports Performance
Spenser Popinga came to the Black Hawks during the 2013/14 season.
An athlete in his own right, Popinga played baseball at North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) and later baseball and hockey at Waldorf College. With the Warriors on the diamond, he was named to the Midwest Collegiate Conference First Team as a designated hitter. On the ice, he was an assistant captain and member of the Western Collegiate Club Hockey Association Second Team and participated in the 2013 ACHA Division-II All-Star Challenge.
Previously also in role as the team's equipment manager, Popinga now focuses on managing conditioning and exercise programs for Black Hawks players. He worked as an equipment manager during the 2015, 2018, and 2019 USHL/NHL Top Prospects Games. Popinga was also part of the gold medal-winning delegation which represented the United States during the 2018, 2022, and 2024 World Junior A Challenges and supported U.S. bronze medal efforts in 2019 and 2023.
With Popinga's assistance, 2017 Ottawa Senators' first round draft pick Shane Bowers finished among the top performers during the NHL Central Scouting Combine aerobic endurance tests.
