Dubuque, IA – The Dubuque Fighting Saints (37-18-4-0, 78 pts) return home to open the final week of the regular season against the Waterloo Black Hawks (16-39-2-2, 36 pts) on Wednesday.
Here are five things to know ahead of the matchup:
1. Cowbell Cup
The Fighting Saints play their final Cowbell Cup game of the season on Wednesday with their seventh-straight title already locked up ahead of the matchup with Waterloo.
The Saints will receive the trophy from Dupaco in a ceremony following the game on Wednesday night.
2. Trio To Go
The Saints enter the final week of the season with three home games remaining and host the Hawks for the final meeting of the season on Wednesday before a series with Muskegon on Friday and Saturday.
With three wins this week, the Fighting Saints can lock up the second bye in the Eastern Conference. Without three wins, Dubuque will have to depend on other results to finish as the second seed in the conference.
3. Arend's Arrival
Charlie Arend returned to the lineup last weekend after a 10-game absence and logged a point in each game against Fargo. Arend scored a power-play goal on Saturday after logging an assist in his first game back on Friday.
Overall, the Saints' assistant captain has 18 goals and 42 points in 49 games for Dubuque this season.
4. Scoring Saints
Dubuque has scored a power-play goal in seven-straight games entering play on Wednesday. In Fargo, the second unit did the damage with goals by Melvin Ekman, Dante Josefsson-Westling and Arend.
Overall, Dubuque leads the league with a 27.9% power play and has two of the top-five power-play goal scorers in the USHL with Colin Frank and Teddy Merrill at 12 goals apiece.
5. Hawk Chalk
The Black Hawks have split their last four games since a 7-2 Dubuque win in Waterloo on March 17 and finish the season with three-straight road games.
Former Fighting Saint Hayden Russell has been the hottest Black Hawk, scoring four goals in his last four games for Waterloo.
Wednesday's game begins at 7:05 p.m. CDT at ImOn Arena and tickets can be purchased here. The game is also available on Eagle 102.3 and FloHockey.
