WATERLOO - The two Marcus Theatres in the Cedar Valley are going to miss veteran Waterloo Black Hawks forward Billy Maday next year.

Between practice and his class at Hawkeye Community College, the Burr Ridge, Ill., native, like many of his teammates who have already graduated from high school, has a lot of free time.

If Maday's not playing video games with defenseman John Lee, he usually can be found catching a flick - at least once or twice a week.

"I love watching movies. I've spent a lot of money going to the movies," quipped Maday. "It is going to be a big shock going to Notre Dame next year and having to hit the books again."

Maday could actually be strolling the grounds of Notre Dame's South Bend, Ind., campus right now if he wanted.

Waterloo's first pick and second overall pick in the United States Hockey League's 2006 May Entry Draft has been committed to the Irish for more than two years.

It was expected Maday, a center, would head to Notre Dame after his rookie season with the Black Hawks.

But two factors weighed in on Maday deciding to return to Waterloo for a second season in the USHL. The first was Maday missing 27 games last year with a broken wrist.

Secondly, the currently ninth-ranked Irish are a veteran-laden team, meaning playing time would have been limited.

"It was my choice to come back," Maday said. "They (Notre Dame) left it up to me. I looked at their roster and made a decision based on what would be best for my development. They felt the same way, and recommended I return, but ultimately said it was my decision."

Black Hawks head coach P.K. O'Handley, throwing away the fact Maday's return immensely improved his 2007-08 squad, said the choice was sensible.

"I think too many kids jump to early," O'Handley said. "For Billy to go and play on the fourth line … he is not a fourth-line player. Billy is a first- or second-line player. I credit Notre Dame and Billy for making a wise choice."

Centering a line between rookie Brock Montpetit and recently acquired Eddie Olczyk, Maday has started to hit his stride for the surging Black Hawks.

Through 33 games, Maday has 10 goals and 18 assists, including a two-goal performance against East Division leader Indiana on Tuesday. Ironically, Maday played 33 regular-season games last season, registering 10 goals and 11 assists.

"To some degree, because of the time he missed last year, he started this season as a rookie," O'Handley said. "And now, I think we are starting to see the real Billy Maday right now."

Maday, who has five goals in Waterloo's last five games, was a latecomer to the game of ice hockey. He didn't start playing ice hockey until he was 10 or 11, but instead built a solid resume playing roller hockey with his Burr Ridge neighborhood friends.

"That's a late start by today's standards," said Maday of his initial foray into ice hockey. "I grew up playing a lot of different sports and some of my soccer teammates played ice hockey. I thought I would try it and progressively fell in love with it."

Maday won a Midget AA national title playing for the Chicago Huskies, before moving on to the now defunct Chicago Chill AAA program. He played a year of midget-minor hockey with the Chill and two years with the Chill's midget-major team, leading the Chill to the AAA national title game they lost to the Boston Jr. Bruins.

Maday had 38 goals and 87 assists in 76 games for the Chill during the 2005-06 season. Those numbers attracted not only Notre Dame, which he committed to immediately, but the eyes of former Black Hawks assistant coach Chris Tok.

"Growing up, I watched a few Steel (Chicago) games and got accustomed to the USHL and knew it was a way to get to college and possibly the pros," said Maday. "Coach Tok called me out of the blue a week before the draft and said if I was available with their first pick, they were going to take me.

"I didn't know anything about Waterloo before that phone call, but I got online after that and did some research. It looked like and has been a fun place to play."

After losing his top three scorers from the 2005-06 team, O'Handley was looking for a player that could light the lamp frequently entering the 2006 draft.

"He was a powerful kid with good size, good mobility and good touch with the puck," O'Handley said. "That is the player we drafted, and that is the player we're seeing right now. I expect his level of play to continue to jump as the season continues to go on."

Contact Jim Nelson at (319) 291-1521 or jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com