Chicago Wolves
The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are the top minor-league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, and are owned by Chicago business owners Don Levin and Buddy Meyers.
| Chicago Wolves | |
|---|---|
| City | Rosemont, Illinois |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Conference | Western |
| Division | Central |
| Founded | 1994 (In the IHL) |
| Home arena | Allstate Arena |
| Colors | Burgundy, gold, black, white |
| Owner(s) | Don Levin, Buddy Meyers |
| General manager | Wendell Young |
| Head coach | Brock Sheahan |
| Captain | Maxime Lajoie |
| Media | My50 The U AHL.TV (Internet) |
| Affiliates | Carolina Hurricanes (NHL) Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) |
| Franchise history | |
| 1994–present | Chicago Wolves |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 1 IHL (1999–2000) 1 AHL(2021–22) |
| Division titles | 4 IHL (1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01) 10 AHL (2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22) |
| Conference titles | 3 IHL (1997–98, 1999–00, 2000–01) 5 AHL (2001–02, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2018–19, 2021–22) |
| Turner Cups | 2 (1997–98, 1999–2000) |
| Calder Cups | 3 (2001–02, 2007–08, 2021–22) |
| Current uniform | |
| Current season | |
Originally a member of the International Hockey League, the Wolves joined the AHL after the IHL folded in 2001.
History
The Wolves won the Turner Cup twice (1998, 2000) in the IHL and the Calder Cup thrice (2002, 2008, and 2022). The Wolves qualified for all but five postseasons (2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13, and 2015–16 seasons), appearing in eight league championship finals (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2019 and 2022) in their 22-year history.
The team's most notable player was forward Steve Maltais, who until his retirement after the 2004–05 season had played every season of the franchise and holds most of its scoring records. Other notable players include goaltender Wendell Young, ex-Pittsburgh star Rob Brown and long time Chicago Blackhawks stars Troy Murray, Chris Chelios and Al Secord. The Wolves had their best season start in their 14-year history, during the 2007–08 season, winning 13 of the first 14 games, with an overtime loss. The Wolves finished the season with 111 points, and first in the Western Conference.
The Wolves were the AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers from 2001 to 2011. The Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg in June 2011 and added the St. John's IceCaps (formerly the Manitoba Moose) as their new AHL affiliate, leaving the Wolves and the NHL's Vancouver Canucks to find new affiliates. On June 27, 2011, the Wolves and Canucks agreed to a two–year affiliation agreement.[1]
On April 23, 2013, the Wolves and St. Louis Blues reached a three-year affiliation agreement. The deal was struck after the Canucks and Wolves decided not to renew their existing affiliation agreement and purchased the Peoria Rivermen franchise from the Blues creating the Utica Comets.[2] In November 2016, it was first reported the Blues would not renew their affiliation with the Wolves and were planning to move their affiliation to Kansas City for 2017.[3] However, this was unconfirmed and then denied by the announced potential owner in Kansas City, Lamar Hunt Jr., in a press release from his ECHL team in the area, the Missouri Mavericks,[4] and further denied by AHL commissioner, David Andrews, after the January 2017 Board of Governors meeting.[5]
After the 2016–17 season, the Wolves became the first affiliate of the NHL's expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights.[6] The Blues did not re-sign with the Wolves to be their primary NHL affiliate for the 2017–18 season. However, Blues' general manager Doug Armstrong confirmed they would still send prospects to the Wolves for that season.[7]
During the first season of their affiliation with Vegas, the Wolves set a pair of franchise records in earning points in 14 straight games from December 9 to January 6[8] and 13 consecutive home wins from December 6 to February 15.[9] In the 2018–19 season, the Wolves made the Calder Cup Finals, in which they lost to the Charlotte Checkers in five games.[10] During the 2019–20 season, the Golden Knights stated it was looking to own and operate its own AHL team in the Las Vegas region in 2020–21, but it would not be the Wolves.[11] The Golden Knights agreed to purchase the San Antonio Rampage franchise and move it to the Las Vegas area as the Henderson Silver Knights.[12] On September 10, 2020, the Wolves announced an affiliation agreement with the Carolina Hurricanes.[13] In addition, the Wolves added a temporary secondary NHL affiliate in the Nashville Predators for the 2020–21 season as the Predators' affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, opted out of the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season.[14] For the 2020–21 season, the teams' home games were at their training facility at the Triphahn Center in Hoffman Estates due to arena restrictions for fans during the pandemic.[15]
Television
The Wolves once were the only AHL team with a full television package. As the Chicago Blackhawks' late owner Bill Wirtz had refused to allow Blackhawks home games to be televised locally, the Wolves were viewed and embraced as an alternative; the Wolves took advantage of this, going so far as to promote themselves with the slogan "We Play Hockey The Old-Fashioned Way: We Actually Win". After Judd Sirott served as the team's play-by-play announcer for its first 12 seasons, starting in the 2006–07 season broadcast announcers were long-time Blackhawks commentators Pat Foley and Bill Gardner; Foley ultimately returned to the Blackhawks for the 2008–09 season after Bill Wirtz died and his son Rocky took over the team, reversing many of his father's policies, one of which allowed the Blackhawks' games to be aired locally on TV.[16] Since 2008, Jason Shaver has handled the play-by-play duties for the Wolves, along with Gardner.
Today, select regular-season home games are broadcast on WPWR-TV (My50), and WMEU-CD (The U), and all games are streamed on AHLTV.
Season-by-season results
This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Wolves. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Chicago Wolves seasons
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Won | Lost | OTL | SOL | Points | PCT | Goals for | Goals against | Standing | Year | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | Finals |
| 2017–18 | 76 | 42 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 95 | .625 | 244 | 208 | 1st, Central | 2018 | L, 0–3, RFD | — | — | — |
| 2018–19 | 76 | 44 | 22 | 6 | 4 | 98 | .645 | 250 | 199 | 1st, Central | 2019 | W, 3–2, GR | W, 4–2, IA | W, 4–2, SD | L, 1–4, CHA |
| 2019–20 | 61 | 27 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 62 | .508 | 155 | 175 | 4th, Central | 2020 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||
| 2020–21 | 33 | 21 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 45 | .682 | 132 | 94 | 1st, Central | 2021 | No playoffs were held | |||
| 2021–22 | 76 | 50 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 110 | .724 | 261 | 194 | 1st, Central | 2022 | W, 3–0, RFD | W, 3–1, MIL | W, 4–2, STO | W, 4–1, SPR |
Players
Current roster
Updated January 18, 2023.[17][18]
Team captains
- Steve Maltais; 1994–96, 1997–2000, 2001–05
- Troy Murray; 1996–97
- Kevin Dahl; 2000–01
- Derek MacKenzie; 2005–06
- Darren Haydar; 2007–08, 2012–13
- Jamie Rivers; 2008–09
- Jason Krog; 2009–11
- Nolan Baumgartner; 2011–12
- Taylor Chorney; 2013–14
- Brent Regner; 2014–15
- Pat Cannone; 2015–16
- Chris Butler; 2016–17
- Paul Thompson; 2017–18
- Andrew Poturalski; 2021–22
- Max Lajoie; 2022-23
Retired numbers
| No. | Player | Position | Career | No. retirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wendell Young | G | 1994–2001 | December 1, 2001[19] |
| 11 | Steve Maltais | LW | 1994–2005 | April 15, 2006[19] |
Team records
Single season
| Type | Number | Player | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goals | 60 | Steve Maltais | 1996–97[20] |
| Assists | 91 | Rob Brown | 1995–96[20] |
| Points | 143 | Rob Brown | 1995–96[20] |
| Penalty minutes | 390 | Kevin MacDonald | 1994–95[20] |
| Hat-tricks | 5 | Steve Maltais | 1996–97[20] |
| Power play goals | 27 | Steve Maltais | 1995–96 & 1996–97[21] |
| Short-handed goals | 7 | Ben Simon | 2002–03[21] |
| Plus-minus | +47 | Arturs Kulda | 2009–10[21] |
| Wins | 38 | Kari Lehtonen | 2004–05[21] |
| Shutouts | 7 | Jake Allen | 2013–14[22] |
Career
| Type | Number | Player |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 454 | Steve Maltais[20] |
| Assists | 497 | Steve Maltais[20] |
| Points | 951 | Steve Maltais[20] |
| Penalty minutes | 1061 | Steve Maltais[20] |
| Hat-tricks | 18 | Steve Maltais[20] |
| Power play goals | 195 | Steve Maltais[20] |
| Short-handed goals | 21 | Derek MacKenzie[21] |
| Game winning goals | 67 | Steve Maltais[20] |
| Games played | 839 | Steve Maltais[23] |
| Wins | 169 | Wendell Young[24] |
| Shutouts | 16 | Wendell Young[25] |
See also
References
- ^ . TSN. The Canadian Press. June 27, 2011. Archived from the original on June 30, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Blues Announce Affiliation with Wolves". St. Louis Blues. April 23, 2013. from the original on 2018-03-21. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
- ^ Schaeffer, Brenden (November 30, 2016). "Report: Blues AHL affiliation to move to Kansas City". KMOV. from the original on 2016-12-01. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ^ Spedden, Zach (December 2, 2016). "Missouri Mavericks Deny Reports on AHL and Kansas City". Arena Digest. from the original on 2016-12-03. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
- ^ Timmermann, Tom (January 31, 2017). "Blue Notes: Reaves moving to third line, at least to start". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
- ^ "WOLVES, GOLDEN KNIGHTS ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP". American Hockey League. May 16, 2017. from the original on 2017-05-17. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- ^ "Armstrong statement on AHL affiliation". St. Louis Blues. May 16, 2017. from the original on 2017-09-12. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- ^ Hoffman, Samantha (January 11, 2018). . The Sin Bin. Archived from the original on June 9, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Special Teams Power Wolves to Franchise-Record 13th Consecutive Home Win". Chicago Wolves. February 15, 2018. from the original on 2019-06-20. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
- ^ Smith, Michael (June 8, 2018). "Charlotte Checkers win Calder Cup". Carolina Hurricanes. from the original on 2019-06-09. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
- ^ Schoen, David (January 27, 2020). "Golden Knights looking to buy AHL club and move it to Las Vegas". Las Vegas Review-Journal. from the original on 2020-01-28. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
- ^ Dietz, John (February 7, 2020). "Golden Knights purchase AHL franchise, Wolves owner confident team will find new NHL partnership". Daily Herald. from the original on 2020-02-07. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
- ^ "Wolves forge partnership with Carolina Hurricanes". Chicago Wolves. September 10, 2020. from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- ^ "Wolves take on Predators as second affiliate for 2020-21". American Hockey League. January 7, 2021. from the original on 2021-01-07. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
- ^ "GAMEDAY: OUR 27TH OPENER!". Chicago Wolves. February 5, 2021. from the original on 2021-02-05. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- ^ . Chicago Sun-Times. June 16, 2008. Archived from the original on July 1, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Chicago Wolves Roster". from the original on 2022-07-14. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ "Chicago Wolves Roster". Elite Prospects. from the original on 2003-11-15. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ a b "All-Time favorite Chicago Wolves moment". Chicago Wolves. February 3, 2016. from the original on 2019-07-04. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Skelnik 2012, pp. 124
- ^ a b c d e Skelnik 2012, pp. 125
- ^ LaTour, Paul (April 19, 2014). "Wolves win AHL's Midwest Division". Chicago Tribune. from the original on 2014-04-21. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ^ . Daily Herald. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required). January 27, 2006. Archived from the original on February 22, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
- ^ Spellman, Mike (November 30, 2001). "Ring master Wolves will honor former goalie Young by retiring his No. 1.(Sports)". Daily Herald.[dead link]
- ^ Shapiro, Mark (November 7, 2000). "Wolves' Young Blanks Grizzlies". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
Bibliography
External links
- Official website
- The Internet Hockey Database - Chicago Wolves (AHL)
- The Internet Hockey Database - Chicago Wolves (IHL)