Chicago Wolves

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Chicago Wolves
2023–24 AHL season
Chicago Wolves Logo.svg
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 Bob Nardella
Captain Vacant
Media My50
The U
AHL.TV (Internet)
Affiliates Independent
Franchise history
1994–present Chicago Wolves
Championships
Regular season titles 1 IHL (1999–2000)
1 AHL (2021–22)
Division Championships 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 Championships 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)

The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League and are 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.

File:Chi-wbs51 rd (40398792212).jpg
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]

File:H0A6418m (2).jpg
2021–22 Wolves with the Calder Cup
File:Chicago Wolves vs. Milwaukee Admirals March 2023 48 (face-off).jpg
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 August 10, 2023.[18][19]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
– Canada Peter Abbandonato C L 26 2023 Laval, Quebec Wolves
– Canada Cory Conacher RW L 34 2023 Burlington, Ontario Wolves
– United States Hank Crone LW L 26 2023 Dallas, Texas Wolves
– United States Tory Dello D R 27 2023 Crystal Lake, Illinois Wolves
– United States Tim Doherty C L 28 2023 Portsmouth, Rhode Island Wolves
– United States Matt Donovan D L 34 2023 Edmond, Oklahoma, United States Wolves
– Canada Hudson Elynuik F L 26 2023 Calgary, Alberta Wolves
– Canada Tyson Feist D R 23 2023 Dawson Creek, British Columbia Wolves
20 United States Cavan Fitzgerald (A) D L 27 2020 Boston, Massachusetts Wolves
– United States Dominic Franco RW R 28 2023 Scituate, Rhode Island Wolves
22 United States Alex Green D R 25 2022 Chicago, Illinois Wolves
– Canada Owen Headrick D R 26 2023 Garden River, Ontario Wolves
– Canada Kyle Marino F R 28 2023 Niagara Falls, Ontario Wolves
– Canada Connor McClennon RW R 21 2023 Wainwright, Alberta Wolves
37 United States Josh Melnick C R 28 2022 Rahway, New Jersey Wolves
– Canada Isaac Ratcliffe LW L 25 2023 London, Ontario Wolves
– United States Adam Scheel G L 25 2023 Lakewood, Ohio Wolves
– United States Cole Schneider LW L 33 2023 Williamsville, New York Wolves
– Canada Austin Strand D R 27 2023 Calgary, Alberta Wolves
25 United States Nate Sucese LW L 27 2022 Fairport, New York Wolves
– Canada Chris Terry LW L 35 2023 Brampton, Ontario Wolves
– Canada Mitchell Vande Sompel D L 27 2023 London, Ontario Wolves

Team captains

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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

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  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.00 21.01 21.02 21.03 21.04 21.05 21.06 21.07 21.08 21.09 21.10 21.11 Skelnik 2012, pp. 124
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 Skelnik 2012, pp. 125
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Bibliography

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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