The USHL awards continued Friday afternoon as Waterloo’s Bryn Chyzyk has been named the USHL General Manager of the Year.
The Black Hawks went 40-21-1-0 and finished second in the Western Conference this season, which was Chyzyk’s second as Waterloo’s general manager.
Waterloo’s 40 wins were tied for the most in the USHL and were a 12-win improvement from the 2021-22 season (28-30-3-1).
Join us in congratulating USHL General Manager of the Year @brynchyzyk https://t.co/1quynHAFpw
— Waterloo Black Hawks (@BlckHawksHockey) May 5, 2023
Despite bowing out in the second round of the playoffs this spring, the Black Hawks showed a lot of promise this season. Chyzyk made multiple key trades throughout the season acquiring Madison's leading scorer — Miko Matikka — in January, defenseman Nate Benoit in early February and defenseman Garrett Brown at the trade deadline.
The Black Hawks had one of the league’s best defensive corps with Benoit, Brown, Aaron Pionk, Sam Rinzel and Ben Robertson. Waterloo allowed the USHL’s third-fewest goals (181) this season. Waterloo’s 230 goals scored were also tied for the third-most in the league.
ADVERTISEMENT
Waterloo saw the development of multiple rookies under head coach Matt Smaby and also saw a pair of players earn All-USHL honors in Pionk and forward Garrett Schifsky.
Chyzyk, 30, played one season in the USHL (2011-12, Fargo) before a four-year career in Grand Forks at North Dakota. He went on to have a brief professional career, spending time with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs and ECHL’s Indy Fuel during the 2016-17 season.
Chyzyk got his managerial career started with the MJHL’s Virden Oil Capitals as he spent one year scouting before moving to northeast Iowa to become Waterloo’s director of scouting for the 2020-21 season.
Congratulations to Bryn Chyzyk of @BlckHawksHockey for being named USHL GM of the Year!
— USHL (@USHL) May 5, 2023
Read: https://t.co/RKNJ89Zv8o pic.twitter.com/LXLY6KWu76
He becomes the second Waterloo GM to win the award, joining P.K. O’Handley. O’Handley won the award three times.
The USHL awards will conclude on Friday with the Player of the Year Award – which will be announced at 2 p.m. To view the full schedule of awards for this week, click here.
The Trust Project
