Waterloo replaces goal scorer Matika
15 January 2023 – United States Hockey League (USHL) – Waterloo Black Hawks Press release
Waterloo, Iowa – Arizona Coyotes draft pick Miko Matikka is currently tied for fourth in the American Hockey League in scoring and will join the Waterloo Black Hawks following a trade announced Sunday with the Madison Capitols.
The Hawks signed the 6-foot-3, 19-year-old from Helsinki in exchange for Hawks first-year forward Oliver Flynn and two picks during the 2023 USHL draft. Matikka adds to Waterloo’s attack, which is responsible for 34 goals in the team’s current six-game winning streak.
“There are only limited opportunities to get a player like Miko during the season,” said Black Hawks general manager Bryn Chyzyk. “With half the schedule remaining, we made this move because we are excited about what this team has done so far and we want to give them every opportunity to succeed in the second half.”
Before the 2022/23 season, Matikka had played in the youth and junior ranks in the Finnish Jokeri. Selected 67th overall by Arizona in the 2023 NHL Draft, he has produced exceptional results in his first season in North America. Through Thanksgiving, Matikka had at least one point in 14 of his first 15 USHL games, including an 11-game point streak that is the league’s longest so far in 2022/23. His 16 goals and 35 points led the Capitols at the time of the trade and ranked eighth and fourth in those categories in the entire league. No player has been more adept at putting the puck in the net; Matika’s 113 shots on goal tied with William Whitelaw of the Youngstown Phantoms for the most in the USHL.
Matikka has committed to the defending NCAA champion Denver Pioneers.
“It was an extremely difficult decision to trade Oliver Flynn,” Chyzyk admitted of the 19-year-old Connecticut recruit. “Oliver is a remarkable individual and we wish him nothing but the best with the Madison Capitols.”
Flynn had scored three goals and four assists in 29 games for Waterloo.
Matika’s addition is a rare connection to the Coyotes organization. Arizona has never made a Black Hawk, and the only Waterloo alumnus to play for an NHL club was Vinnie Hinostroza from 2018-2020.
The Hawks’ ties to Finland have also been limited. Matika’s last compatriot who went to Waterloo on the ice was goalkeeper Severi Isokangas in the 2016/17 season. The Hawks’ last Finnish forward was Jan-Mikael Juutilainen, who was also an NHL draft pick (Chicago Blackhawks, 2006) and who was also the first to skate for the Jokers.
Matikka and the Hawks are on the road this coming weekend against the Chicago Steel and the Dubuque Fighting Saints.
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