Chicago Wolves
| Chicago Wolves | |
|---|---|
 2013–14 Chicago Wolves season | |
 | |
| City | Rosemont, Illinois |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Conference | Western Conference |
| Division | Midwest Division |
| 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 | John Anderson |
| Media |
Comcast Channel 100 WPWR My50: Chicago The U Too |
| Affiliates |
St. Louis Blues (NHL) Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL) Missouri Mavericks (CHL) St. Charles Chill (CHL) |
| 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 3 AHL 2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10 |
| 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 | 2 2001–02, 2007–08 |
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 and are owned by Chicago business owners Don Levin and Buddy Meyers. Beginning in 2013-14 season, they will become the minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Blues.
Originally a member of the International Hockey League, the Wolves joined the AHL after the IHL folded in 2001. They also share the same metropolitan area with the Chicago Blackhawks although that team is not their NHL affiliate (the arch-rival Rockford IceHogs are ironically the Blackhawks AHL affiliate, while the Wolves are also the AHL affiliate of the Blackhawks' divisional rival, the St. Louis Blues.) 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.
History
The team has never had a losing season during its history, including four league playoff championships. The Wolves won the Turner Cup twice (1998, 2000) in the IHL and the Calder Cup twice (2002, 2008). The Wolves qualified for all except four postseasons (2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, and 2012-13 seasons), appearing in six league championship finals (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008) in their 19-year history.
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, long time Chicago Blackhawks stars Troy Murray, Chris Chelios, Al Secord, and defenseman 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.
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 two–year affiliation agreement.[1]
On April 23, 2013, the Wolves and St. Louis Blues reached a 3-year affiliation agreement. The deal was struck after the Canucks decided not to renew their existing affiliation agreement and purchased the Peoria Rivermen franchise from the Blues creating the Utica Comets.[2]
Television
The Wolves are the only AHL team with a full television package. All 76 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 televised locally, the Wolves were viewed and embraced as an alternative. 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.[3] Currently Jason Shaver handles play by play for the Wolves, along with Gardner still at color commentator. The Games are televised on Comcast Channel 100, Chicago's MyNetworkTV affiliate WPWR-TV Channel 50, and on U Too (Comcast Channel 360).
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 |
| 2008–09 | 80 | 38 | 37 | 3 | 2 | 81 | .506 | 226 | 222 | 6th, West | 2009 | Out of playoffs | |||
| 2009–10 | 80 | 49 | 24 | 1 | 6 | 105 | .656 | 264 | 214 | 1st, West | 2010 | W, 4-3, MIL | L, 3-4, TEX | — | — |
| 2010–11 | 80 | 39 | 30 | 5 | 6 | 89 | .556 | 260 | 262 | 6th, West | 2011 | Out of playoffs | |||
| 2011–12 | 76 | 42 | 27 | 4 | 3 | 91 | .599 | 213 | 193 | 1st, Midwest | 2012 | L, 2-3, SA | — | — | — |
| 2012–13 | 76 | 37 | 30 | 5 | 4 | 83 | .546 | 204 | 207 | 4th, Midwest | 2013 | Out of playoffs | |||
Players
Current roster
Updated December 11, 2013.[4]
Retired numbers
- 1 Wendell Young, G, 1994–2001
- 11 Steve Maltais, LW, 1994–2005
Team captains
- Steve Maltais (1994–96)
- Troy Murray (1996–97)
- Steve Maltais (1997–2000)
- Kevin Dahl (2000–01)
- Steve Maltais (2001–05)
- Derek MacKenzie (2005–06)
- No Captain (2006–07)
- Darren Haydar (2007–08)
- Jamie Rivers (2008–09)
- Jason Krog (2009–11)
- Nolan Baumgartner (2011–12)
- Darren Haydar (2012–13)
- Taylor Chorney (2013–present)
Honored personnel
- Tim Breslin, LW, 1994–1999
- Dan Snyder, C, 2001–2003
- John Anderson, Head Coach, 1997–2008, 2013
- Kevin Cheveldayoff, GM, 1997–2009
Team records
Single season
| Type | Amount | Player | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goals | 60 | Steve Maltais | 1996–97 | [5] |
| Assists | 91 | Rob Brown | 1995–96 | [5] |
| Points | 143 | Rob Brown | 1995–96 | [5] |
| Penalty minutes | 390 | Kevin MacDonald | 1994–95 | [5] |
| Hat-tricks | 5 | Steve Maltais | 1996–97 | [5] |
| Power Play Goals | 27 | Steve Maltais | 1995–96 & 1996–97 | [6] |
| Short-Handed Goals | 7 | Ben Simon | 2002–03 | [6] |
| Plus-Minus | +47 | Arturs Kulda | 2009–10 | [6] |
| Wins | 38 | Kari Lehtonen | 2004–05 | [6] |
| Shutouts | 6 | Wendell Young Matt Climie |
1999–2000 2012–13 |
[6] [7] |
Career
| Type | Amount | Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goals | 454 | Steve Maltais | [5] |
| Assists | 497 | Steve Maltais | [5] |
| Points | 951 | Steve Maltais | [5] |
| Penalty minutes | 1061 | Steve Maltais | [5] |
| Hat-tricks | 18 | Steve Maltais | [5] |
| Power Play Goals | 195 | Steve Maltais | [5] |
| Short-Handed Goals | 21 | Derek MacKenzie | [6] |
| Game Winning Goals | 67 | Steve Maltais | [5] |
| Games played | 839 | Steve Maltais | [8] |
| Wins | 169 | Wendell Young | [9] |
| Shutouts | 16 | Wendell Young | [10] |
See also
References
- Skelnik, Justin, ed. (2012). "2012–13 Chicago Wolves Media Guide".
- ↑ "Canucks enter new AHL affiliation agreement with Chicago". The Sports Network. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ↑ Blues Announce Affiliation with Wolves: Chicago Wolves will serve as the Blues' AHL affiliate for at least three seasons, NHL.com (April 23, 2013)
- ↑ "Pat Foley returns to Hawks". Chicago Sun-Times. June 16, 2008. Retrieved on June 16, 2008.
- ↑ "Chicago Wolves Roster". Retrieved 2013-12-11.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 5.11 Skelnik 2012, pp. 124
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Skelnik 2012, pp. 125
- ↑ "Wolves Bring Back Climie". Chicago Wolves. 2013-05-13. Retrieved 2013-12-22.
- ↑ "Wolves to retire Maltais' No. 11.(Sports)". Daily Herald – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . 2006-01-27. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
- ↑ Spellman, Mike (2001-11-30). "Ring master Wolves will honor former goalie Young by retiring his No. 1.(Sports)". Daily Herald – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Retrieved 2013-01-02.
- ↑ Shapiro, Mark (2000-11-07). "Wolves' Young Blanks Grizzlies". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
External links
- The Chicago Wolves Official website
- The Internet Hockey Database - Chicago Wolves (AHL)
- The Internet Hockey Database - Chicago Wolves (IHL)
- Chicago Wolves Laser Shows Over A Decade of Wolves Laser Shows
- Chicago Wolves Blog
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