The Legion Team: Forgotten Hockey in Waterloo, 1927-1930

For more than half a century, generations of hockey fans in northeast Iowa have given their allegiance to the Waterloo Black Hawks. Few realize that decades before the Black Hawks arrived, a long forgotten club captivated Waterloo during the late 1920’s, playing in front of crowds even larger than those who come to the rink today and beating teams from Chicago, the Twin Cities, and Canada. Sponsored and administered by the Becker-Chapman American Legion Post, a contemporary newspaper report noted, “[Hockey’s] popularity eclipses any other winter sport…the game took such a foothold that the city would be lost without its regular hockey matches now.” The Legion Team; Forgotten Hockey in Waterloo, 1927-1930, seeks to revive the memory of this overlooked era, detailing every game the Becker-Chapman squad played during four winters. However, beyond the wins, losses, and game details, the athletes who came to the Cedar Valley for the opportunity to play, their opponents, and Waterloo of that era, come to life.