2020-21 Chicago Wolves Game Notes CHICAGO AT GRAND RAPIDS MAY 7, 2021 6 P.M. AHLTV.COM COUNTDOWN TO A CLINCH 2020-21 No, American Hockey League teams haven’t played a full season. It hasn’t even been half of a normal TALE OF THE TAPE AHL season. And, yes, COVID-19 and all of its protocols and guidelines have made the 2020-21 season perhaps the most difficult in the Wolves’ 27-year history. REGULAR-SEASON SERIES 1-6-0-0 Grand Rapids | 6-1-0-0 Chicago Moreover, per last week’s AHL proclamation, there will be no Calder Cup for players and coaches to LAST MEETING April 29, 2021 aspire to win. Which also means fans can’t dream about seeing their favorites hoisting the Cup at the end of a fierce postseason. Despite all of these factors, when you make a schedule and hire officials and keep score, it’s always preferable to be on the fat end of the scoreboard at the end of the day. Using that as the benchmark, 12-10-3-1 18-6-1-2 the Wolves are trying to wrap up one of the most successful seasons in franchise annals. SERIES LEADERS Thanks to their seven-game winning streak to start the season, the Wolves have been atop the Central Division since Day 1 and are well on their way to being on top on Day 100 (the final day of the regular GRAND RAPIDS CHICAGO season). The Central Division champ will be determined by points percentage because each team Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts plays to play a different number of games. Barber 4 4 8 Tomasino 3 5 8 Hirose 1 6 7 Richard 6 1 7 If every team gets to play the rest of the games on their schedule, then the Wolves’ magic number Criscuolo 4 1 5 Cotton 4 2 6 stands at 7 to capture the organization’s fourth division title in the last five years. That number drops x Cholowski 2 3 5 Novak 3 3 6 each time the Wolves pick up a point or the second-place Cleveland Monsters (15-8-1-1) miss out on a point. Chicago has six games remaining while Cleveland has four. SERIES GAME-BY-GAME Date Location Result SF-SA PP PK Third-place Grand Rapids still gets a say in the Central Division race. If the Griffins win their six Feb. 5 Wolves Training Facility W, 3-1 29-23 1-4 4-5 remaining games — three against the Wolves and three against the Monsters — then they finish their Feb. 11 Wolves Training Facility W, 4-2 29-38 1-5 4-5 season with 40 points and a points percentage of .625. However, the Wolves can eliminate the Griffins Feb. 26 Van Andel Arena L, 1-4 23-35 0-5 4-4 from title contention with a regulation win tonight. Feb. 28 Wolves Training Facility W, 8-4 35-33 2-4 1-4 April 1 Wolves Training Facility W, 5-2 27-45 1-3 5-5 From the wider perspective, the Wolves boast the league’s third-best points percentage (.722) and can April 26 Van Andel Arena W, 5-1 29-24 3-8 4-4 catch the Laval Rocket (.783) to finish with the best record. Laval (47 points in 30 games) also has six April 29 Van Andel Arena W, 4-2 31-31 0-2 2-3 games remaining. May 7 Van Andel Arena May 8 Wolves Training Facility POSTSEASON HONORS? May 12 Van Andel Arena As the regular season winds down, it’s time to start thinking about candidates for postseason awards. Wolves forward Tanner Jeannot seemed like a definite Most Valuable Player candidate midway ALL-TIME RECORD BREAKDOWN through the season, but he has spent the last four weeks with the Nashville Predators. Jeannot rang up 10 goals, 11 assists and a +13 plus/minus rating in his 13 Wolves games — and the team went 12-1-0-0. Seasons Home Road Overall He owns four goals and one assist in 12 NHL games since being recalled on April 11. 1996-2021 42-37-0-6-2 37-32-2-9-2 79-69-2-15-4 WE ARE THE WOLVES Rookie forward Phil Tomasino seems like the Wolves’ most likely awards candidate as the 19-year-old ranks tied for third among all rooks in goals (11), fourth in points (25) and second in plus-minus (+17). It seems weird the AHL’s leader in goals per game wouldn’t have any hat tricks, but no Wolves player has LAST TWO GAMES yet to deliver three goals in a game this season. SATURDAY, MAY 1 IOWA 5, (AT) CHICAGO 2 This would mark the first season in franchise history • Iowa scored two goals in the first period and three in the second to pull away as the Wolves without a hat trick, but there’s still time to add to the wrapped up six games in an eight-day stretch. Wolves’ history of May hat tricks. • Rookie forward Dominik Bokk pulled the Wolves even in the first period, then forward David Gust scored in the second for his first goal with the Wolves. Longtime pro Greg Pankewicz recorded the first on • Goaltender Connor Ingram stopped 35 of 40 shots before leaving due to injury. Beck Warm May 12, 1996, in Game 5 of the Western Conference rejected 8 of 8 shots in relief. Semifinals versus Las Vegas. FRIDAY, APRIL 30 (AT) CHICAGO 4, IOWA 1 He has been followed by Steve Larouche (May 11, • Rookie forward Phil Tomasino broke a tie with a second-period power-play goal and center Sean 1998, vs. Milwaukee), Cory Larose (May 9, 2005, at Malone followed 88 seconds later with a short-handed goal to steer the Wolves to the home win. Cincinnati), Jason Krog (May 16, 2008, vs. Toronto) • Forward Sheldon Rempal scored the Wolves’ first goal and set up Malone’s shortie while rookie and Curtis McKenzie (May 10, 2019, at Iowa). 2020-21 Chicago Wolves Game Notes 2020-21 BY THE NUMBERS HOME-ROAD CONTRASTS Regular Season Home Away Difference With six games left in the season, the Wolves seem well on their way to lead the American Goals For 4.54 3.61 0.93 Hockey League in goals per game for the first time since the 2008 Calder Cup champions Goals Against 2.46 3.14 0.68 1 accomplished the feat. This year’s Wolves average 4.07 goals per night, which stands 0.25 goals ahead of second-place Syracuse. However, they’re going to need to score 27 goals over these RECORD BY OPPONENT final six games in order to break the franchise record for goals. The only Wolves team that has Record Win % averaged more than 4 per game is the 2006-07 crew that paced the AHL with 4.14 per game. Cleveland 0-2-1-1 .250 Grand Rapids 6-1-0-0 .857 The Wolves just completed six games in eight days — the sixth time in franchise history there Iowa 6-2-0-0 .750 had been such a rigorous stretch. Now, after five days to recuperate and practice, the Wolves Rockford 6-1-0-1 .813 6 wrap up their season with six games in nine days. While this sounds vigorous, too, maybe don’t tell Wolves general manager Wendell Young about busy season-ending runs. To cap the 1995- RECORD BY MONTH 96 International Hockey League season, the Wolves played FIVE games in SIX days (April 9-14). Young Record Win % started and finished all five games as the team went from Las Vegas to Los Angeles to Rosemont to February 8-1-0-0 .889 March 4-1-0-1 .750 Kansas City to Rosemont. April 6-3-1-1 .636 May 0-1-0-0 .000 Defenseman Cavan Fitzgerald doesn’t get much recognition because he hasn’t scored a goal since Feb. 28, but he has been an important part of the Wolves’ success 19 as proven by his team-high +19 plus-minus rating in 25 games. That ranks fourth in the IN OVERTIME (1-1) AHL in plus-minus. He’s also a crucial part of Chicago’s top penalty-killing unit. Goaltender Saves-Shots (10-11) SV% Antoine Bibeau (1-0) 3-3 1.000 The Wolves have played just 27 games, but 45 players already have suited up for at Connor Ingram (0-0) 5-5 1.000 least one game after rookie defenseman Marc Del Gaizo’s pro debut April 29. This Beck Warm (0-1) 7-8 .875 45 year’s squad appears it will run out of time to set the franchise record for most players used in one season. The 2010-11 crew needed 47 players to complete an 80-game schedule. IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-2) The Wolves’ 14 rookie skaters have combined for 52 goals (or 47 percent of the team’s Shooter Goals-Chances (0-5) SH% goals). Nineteen-year-old forward Phil Tomasino leads the rookies (and the Wolves Dominik Bokk 0-1 .000 52 with 11 goals. The other first-year contributors are David Cotton (9), Dominik Bokk Patrick Harper 0-1 .000 Tommy Novak 0-1 .000 (8), Seth Jarvis (7), Ryan Suzuki (5), Jamieson Rees (5), Cole Smith (5) and Zach Solow (2). David Cotton 0-2 .000 Defenseman Josh Healey, the only Wolves player to appear in all 27 games this Goaltender Saves-Shots (2-5) SV% year, ranks second among AHL defensemen and sixth in the league overall with 64 Antoine Bibeau (0-1) 2-3 .667 64 penalty minutes.