in 1994, the black hawks moved out of the old mcelroy auditorium into the new young arena in downtown waterloo. new owner butch johnson's purchased the team in 1997. the records did not improve, and the team failed to finish above .500 again until 1999-2000. new head coach scott pionk in 1997-98 had a 25-29-2 record, but a 16-37-3 record the next season led to his departure. scott koberinski had a 28-26-4 record in 1999-2000, followed by a 25-29-2 record the next year, but a 21-38-2 record led to another coaching change.