Chicago Wolves

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Chicago Wolves
City: Rosemont, Illinois
League: American Hockey League
Conference: Western Conference
Division: West Division
Founded: 1994–95 (IHL)
Home Arena: Allstate Arena
Colors: maroon, gold and white
Owner(s): Don Levin & Buddy Meyers
General Manager: Kevin Cheveldayoff
Head Coach: John Anderson
Media: Comcast cable
Affiliates: Atlanta Thrashers (NHL)
Gwinnett Gladiators (ECHL)
Franchise history
1994–2001 (IHL): Chicago Wolves
2001–Present (AHL): Chicago Wolves
Championships
Regular Season Titles: 1 IHL 1999–2000
Division Championships: 4 IHL 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01
2 AHL 2004–05, 2007–08
Conference Championships: 3 IHL 1997–98,
1999–2000, 2000–01
3 AHL
2001–02, 2004–05, 2007–08
Turner Cups: 2 1997–98, 1999–2000
Calder Cups: 1 2001–02

The Chicago Wolves are a professional hockey team playing in the American Hockey League. The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. The Wolves are owned by Don Levin and Buddy Meyers, who are a pair of Chicago business owners.

Originally a member of the International Hockey League, the Wolves joined the AHL after the IHL folded in 2001. They are currently the AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers. The Wolves' mascot is a gray wolf named Skates. The mascot wears number 94, noting the year (1994) the Wolves began play in the IHL. They are the Current Western Conference Champions and are in the Calder Cup Final against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Contents

[edit] History

The team has never had a losing season during its history, including three league playoff championships. The Wolves won two Turner Cups (1998, 2000) in the IHL, and the Calder Cup in their inaugural AHL season in 2002. The Wolves qualified for every postseason except for the 2005–06 season, appearing in six league championship finals. (1998, 2000-2002, 2005, 2008)

The team's great star was forward Steve Maltais, who until his retirement after the 2004–2005 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 defenceman Bob Nardella. 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.

[edit] Television

The Wolves are the only AHL team with a full television package. All 80 regular-season games, plus playoffs, are broadcast on Comcast cable. As the Chicago Blackhawks' late owner Bill Wirtz had refused to allow Blackhawks home games to be locally televised, the Wolves were viewed and embraced as an alternative. Broadcast announcers are long-time Blackhawks commentator Pat Foley and Bill Gardner.

[edit] Players

[edit] Team captains

  • Steve Maltais (1994–96)
  • Troy Murray (1996–97)
  • Kevin Dahl (2000–01)
  • Steve Maltais(2001–05)
  • Derek MacKenzie (2005–06)
  • no captain (2006–2007)
  • Darren Haydar (2007-present)

[edit] Retired numbers

[edit] Current roster

As of June 2, 2008 [1]

Goaltenders
# Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
30 Flag of the United States Craig Kowalski L 2007 Clinton Township, Michigan
31 Flag of the Czech Republic Ondrej Pavelec L 2007 Kladno, Czechoslovakia
33 Flag of Canada Robert Gherson L 2007 Toronto, Ontario
Defensemen
# Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
2 Flag of the United States Brian Fahey R 2006 Glenview, Illinois
3 Flag of Canada Chad Denny L 2007 Sydney, Nova Scotia
4 Flag of the Czech Republic Boris Valabik L 2007 Nitra, Slovakia
5 Flag of the United States Brian Sipotz R 2005 South Bend, Indiana
7 Flag of Canada Scott Lehman L 2007 Windsor, Ontario
8 Flag of Canada Joel Kwiatkowski-A L 2007 Kindersley, Saskatchewan
22 Flag of Canada Nathan Oystrick L 2006 Regina, Saskatchewan
24 Flag of the Czech Republic Karel Pilar R 2007 Prague, Czechoslovakia
32 Flag of Latvia Arturs Kulda L 2007 Riga, Latvia
38 Flag of the United States Grant Lewis R 2007 Upper Saint Clair, Pennsylvania
Forwards
# Player Position Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
9 Flag of Canada Jesse Schultz RW R 2007 Strasbourg, Saskatchewan
10 Flag of Canada Jason Krog - A C R 2006 Fernie, British Columbia
12 Flag of Canada Guillaume Desbiens RW R 2005 Alma, Quebec
13 Flag of the Bahamas Andre Deveaux RW R 2006 Freeport, Bahamas
14 Flag of the United States Jordan Lavallee-A LW R 2006 Corvallis, Oregon
15 Flag of the United States Joey Crabb RW R 2006 Anchorage, Alaska
17 Flag of the United States Matt Anderson C R 2007 West Islip, New York
18 Flag of the United States Joe Motzko RW R 2007 Bemidji, Minnesota
20 Flag of Canada Darren Haydar-C RW R 2006 Toronto, Ontario
21 Flag of Canada Kevin Doell C R 2003 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
23 Flag of the United States Colin Stuart LW L 2006 Oak Park, Illinois
25 Flag of the Czech Republic Tomas Pospisil LW R 2007 Kladno, Czechoslovakia
26 Flag of Canada Steve Martins C L 2006 Gatineau, Quebec
27 Flag of Canada Mike Hamilton LW L 2007 Victoria, British Columbia
28 Flag of Canada Bryan Little C L 2007 Edmonton, Alberta
29 Flag of the United States Brett Sterling LW L 2006 Los Angeles, California
  • * Called up to Thrashers

[edit] Season-by-season results

[edit] Regular season

Season Games Won Lost Tied OTL SOL Points Goals
for
Goals
against
Standing
1994–95 81 34 33 14 82 261 306 3rd, Northern
1995–96 82 40 34 8 88 288 310 2nd, Midwest
1996–97 82 40 36 6 86 276 290 3rd, Midwest
1997–98 82 55 24 3 113 301 258 1st, Midwest T
1998–99 82 49 21 12 110 285 246 1st, Midwest
1999–00 82 53 21 8 114 270 228 1st, Western T
2000–01 82 43 32 7 93 267 249 1st, Western *
2001–02 80 37 31 7 5 86 250 236 4th, West C
2002–03 80 43 25 8 4 98 276 237 2nd, West
2003–04 80 42 26 9 3 96 246 208 3rd, West
2004–05 80 49 24 2 5 105 245 211 1st, West *
2005–06 80 36 32 4 8 84 278 275 5th, West
2006–07 80 46 25 3 6 101 331 252 2nd, West
2007–08 80 53 22 2 3 111 300 226 1st, West
  • T= Turner Cup Champions
  • C= Calder Cup Champions
  • *= Conference Champions
  • Bold text= Division Champions

[edit] Playoffs

Season Prelim 1st round 2nd round 3rd round Finals
1994–95 L, 0–3, KAL
1995–96 W, 3–1 SF L, 1–4, LV
1996–97 L, 1–3, SA
1997–98 W, 3–0, MTB W, 4–2, MIL W, 4–2, LB W, 4–3, DET
1998–99 bye W, 3–0, MTB L, 3–4, HOU
1999–00 bye W, 4–0, LB W, 4–2, HOU W, 4–2, GR
2000–01 W, 4–1, MIL W, 4–2, MTB L, 1–4, ORL
2001–02 W, 2–1, CIN W, 3–2, GR W, 4–3, SYR W, 4–1, HOU W, 4–1, BRI
2002–03 W, 3–2, HER L, 0–4, GR
2003–04 W, 4–0, GR L, 2–4 MIL
2004–05 W, 4–1, HOU W, 4–1, CIN W, 4–0, MTB L, 0–4, PHIL
2005–06 Out of playoffs.
2006–07 W, 4–0, MIL W, 4–2, IOWA L, 1–4, HAM
2007–08 W, 4–2, MIL W, 4-3, ROC W, 4-1, TOR Leads,3-2,WB/S

[edit] Team records

[edit] Single Season

Goals: 60 Flag of Canada Steve Maltais (1996–97)
Assists: 91 Flag of Canada Rob Brown (1995–96)
Points: 143, Brown (1995–96)
Penalty Minutes: 390 Flag of Canada Kevin MacDonald (1994–95)
GAA: 1.89 Flag of Canada Richard Shulmistra (2000–01)
SV%: .937, Shulmistra (2000–01)

[edit] Career

Career Goals: 454, Maltais
Career Assists: 497, Maltais
Career Points: 951, Maltais
Career Penalty Minutes: 1061, Maltais
Career Goaltending Wins: 169 Flag of Canada Wendell Young
Career Shutouts: 16, Young
Career Games: 843, Maltais

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chicago Wolves Website [1]

[edit] External links



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Softball NPF: Chicago Bandits
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