Chicago Wolves

Chicago Wolves
CityRosemont, Illinois
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
ConferenceWestern
DivisionCentral
Founded1994 (In the IHL)
Home arenaAllstate Arena
ColorsBurgundy, gold, black, white
       
Owner(s)Don Levin, Buddy Meyers
General managerWendell Young
Head coachBob Nardella
CaptainChis Terry
MediaMy50
The U
AHL.TV (Internet)
AffiliateIndependent
Franchise history
1994–presentChicago Wolves
Championships
Regular season titles1 IHL (1999–2000)
1 AHL (2021–22)
Division titles4 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 titles3 IHL (1997–98,
1999–00, 2000–01)
5 AHL
(2001–02, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2018–19, 2021–22)
Turner Cups2 (1997–98, 1999–2000)
Calder Cups3 (2001–02, 2007–08, 2021–22)
Current uniform
Current season

The Chicago Wolves are a semi-professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) currently operating as the lone independent franchise in the 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.

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.

2007–08 Wolves with the Calder Cup

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]

2021–22 Wolves with the Calder Cup
The Wolves playing at the Milwaukee Admirals in 2023

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]

Starting with the 2023–24 season, the Wolves plan to play as an independent AHL team and end their affiliation with the Hurricanes, becoming the first independent AHL team since the 1994–95 season.[16]

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.[17] 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
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
2022–23 72 35 29 5 3 78 .542 227 244 6th, Central 2023 Did not qualify

Players

Current roster

Updated April 12, 2024.[18][19]

Team roster
No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
44 Canada Max Comtois LW L 25 2023 Longueuil, Quebec Hurricanes
89 Canada Cory Conacher RW L 34 2023 Burlington, Ontario Wolves
3 United States Tory Dello D R 27 2023 Crystal Lake, Illinois Wolves
46 United States Matt Donovan (A) D L 33 2023 Edmond, Oklahoma Wolves
83 Canada Hudson Elynuik F L 26 2023 Calgary, Alberta Wolves
32 United States Domenick Fensore D L 22 2023 Bronxville, New York Wolves
20 United States Cavan Fitzgerald (A) D L 27 2020 Boston, Massachusetts Wolves
21 United States Dominic Franco RW R 28 2023 Scituate, Rhode Island Wolves
22 United States Alex Green D R 25 2022 Chicago, Illinois Wolves
91 United States Rocco Grimaldi (A) RW L 31 2023 Rossmoor, California Wolves
30 United States Keith Kinkaid G L 34 2023 Farmingville, New York Devils
36 Canada Kyle Marino C R 28 2023 Niagara Falls, Ontario Wolves
37 United States Josh Melnick (A) C R 28 2022 Rahway, New Jersey Wolves
2 Canada Griffin Mendel D L 25 2022 Kelowna, British Columbia Hurricanes
39 United States Patrick Moynihan (ATO) RW R 23 2024 Millis, Massachusetts Wolves
35 Finland Antti Raanta G L 34 2023 Rauma, Finland Hurricanes
23 Canada Isaac Ratcliffe LW L 25 2023 London, Ontario Wolves
8 Canada Ronan Seeley D L 21 2022 Olds, Alberta Hurricanes
31 United States Adam Scheel G L 24 2023 Lakewood, Ohio Wolves
10 United States Cole Schneider (A) LW L 33 2023 Williamsville, New York Wolves
14 United States Nate Sucese LW L 27 2022 Fairport, New York Wolves
25 Canada Chris Terry (C) LW L 35 2023 Brampton, Ontario Wolves
13 United States Ryan Wagner LW L 28 2023 Park Ridge, Illinois Wolves
15 United States Jake Wise C L 24 2024 Naples, Florida Wolves

Team captains

Notable alumni

The following players have played both 100 games for the Wolves and 100 games in the National Hockey League:

Retired numbers

Wolves retired numbers and honored personnel
Chicago Wolves retired numbers
No. Player Position Career No. retirement
1 Wendell Young G 1994–2001 December 1, 2001[20]
11 Steve Maltais LW 1994–2005 April 15, 2006[20]

Team records

Single season

Some of the Wolves banners hanging in the Allstate Arena
Type Number Player Season
Goals 60 Steve Maltais 1996–97[21]
Assists 91 Rob Brown 1995–96[21]
Points 143 Rob Brown 1995–96[21]
Penalty minutes 390 Kevin MacDonald 1994–95[21]
Hat-tricks 5 Steve Maltais 1996–97[21]
Power play goals 27 Steve Maltais 1995–96 & 1996–97[22]
Short-handed goals 7 Ben Simon 2002–03[22]
Plus–minus +47 Arturs Kulda 2009–10[22]
Wins 38 Kari Lehtonen 2004–05[22]
Shutouts 7 Jake Allen 2013–14[23]

Career

Type Number Player
Goals 454 Steve Maltais[21]
Assists 497 Steve Maltais[21]
Points 951 Steve Maltais[21]
Penalty minutes 1061 Steve Maltais[21]
Hat-tricks 18 Steve Maltais[21]
Power play goals 195 Steve Maltais[21]
Short-handed goals 21 Derek MacKenzie[22]
Game winning goals 67 Steve Maltais[21]
Games played 839 Steve Maltais[24]
Wins 169 Wendell Young[25]
Shutouts 16 Wendell Young[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Canucks enter new AHL affiliation agreement with Chicago". 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)
  2. ^ "Blues Announce Affiliation with Wolves". St. Louis Blues. April 23, 2013. Archived from the original on 2018-03-21. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  3. ^ Schaeffer, Brenden (November 30, 2016). "Report: Blues AHL affiliation to move to Kansas City". KMOV. Archived from the original on 2016-12-01. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  4. ^ Spedden, Zach (December 2, 2016). "Missouri Mavericks Deny Reports on AHL and Kansas City". Arena Digest. Archived from the original on 2016-12-03. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  5. ^ Timmermann, Tom (January 31, 2017). "Blue Notes: Reaves moving to third line, at least to start". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  6. ^ "WOLVES, GOLDEN KNIGHTS ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP". American Hockey League. May 16, 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-05-17. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  7. ^ "Armstrong statement on AHL affiliation". St. Louis Blues. May 16, 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-09-12. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  8. ^ Hoffman, Samantha (January 11, 2018). "Gulls Stop Wovles' Point Streak at 14 Games". 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)
  9. ^ "Special Teams Power Wolves to Franchise-Record 13th Consecutive Home Win". Chicago Wolves. February 15, 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-06-20. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  10. ^ Smith, Michael (June 8, 2018). "Charlotte Checkers win Calder Cup". Carolina Hurricanes. Archived from the original on 2019-06-09. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  11. ^ Schoen, David (January 27, 2020). "Golden Knights looking to buy AHL club and move it to Las Vegas". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on 2020-01-28. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  12. ^ Dietz, John (February 7, 2020). "Golden Knights purchase AHL franchise, Wolves owner confident team will find new NHL partnership". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on 2020-02-07. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  13. ^ "Wolves forge partnership with Carolina Hurricanes". Chicago Wolves. September 10, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
  14. ^ "Wolves take on Predators as second affiliate for 2020-21". American Hockey League. January 7, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-01-07. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  15. ^ "GAMEDAY: OUR 27TH OPENER!". Chicago Wolves. February 5, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-02-05. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  16. ^ "Chicago Wolves To Play As An Independent AHL Team". Pro Hockey Rumors. April 5, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  17. ^ "Pat Foley returns to Hawks". 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)
  18. ^ "Chicago Wolves Roster". Archived from the original on 2021-10-14. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  19. ^ "Chicago Wolves Roster". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 2003-11-15. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  20. ^ a b "All-Time favorite Chicago Wolves moment". Chicago Wolves. February 3, 2016. Archived from the original on 2019-07-04. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Skelnik 2012, pp. 124
  22. ^ a b c d e Skelnik 2012, pp. 125
  23. ^ LaTour, Paul (April 19, 2014). "Wolves win AHL's Midwest Division". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2014-04-21. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  24. ^ "Wolves to retire Maltais' No. 11.(Sports)". Daily Herald. January 27, 2006. Archived from the original on February 22, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
  25. ^ Spellman, Mike (November 30, 2001). "Ring master Wolves will honor former goalie Young by retiring his No. 1.(Sports)". Daily Herald.[dead link]
  26. ^ Shapiro, Mark (November 7, 2000). "Wolves' Young Blanks Grizzlies". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 22, 2013.

Bibliography

  • Skelnik, Justin, ed. (2012). 2012–13 Chicago Wolves Media Guide.

External links

  • Official website
  • The Internet Hockey Database - Chicago Wolves (AHL)
  • The Internet Hockey Database - Chicago Wolves (IHL)
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