Chicago Wolves Game Notes CHICAGO at COLORADO OCTOBER 6, 2018 8 P.M
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes CHICAGO at COLORADO OCTOBER 6, 2018 8 p.m. AHLTV WHAT A WAY TO START 2018-19 The Chicago Wolves opened their 25th anniversary season Friday night in front of a sellout crowd at TALE OF THE TAPE the Budweiser Events Center. AHL commissioner and CEO Dave Andrews showed up to welcome the Colorado Eagles as the AHL’s 31st team. Oh, and the Eagles held a pregame ceremony to lift their 2018 REGULAR-SEASON SERIES 0-0-1-0 Colorado | 1-0-0-0 Chicago Kelly Cup banner to the rafters. The deck was stacked against them. LAST MEETING All of that pomp and circumstance led to an uneven start for the Wolves, but a magical finish. Just 48 April 22, 2018 seconds into overtime, 19-year-old defenseman Erik Brännström fired home the game-winning goal and the rest of the team mobbed him on the ice to celebrated their 3-2 triumph. After the Wolves’ first win in a road opener since 2013, these teams had to rest quickly in order to get 0-0-1-0 1-0-0-0 after it again tonight in their last meeting for six months. What’s at stake? Well, the Wolves haven’t won their first two road games in a season since 2007-08 -- which happens to double as the last time LEADING SCORERS the Wolves were the last team standing at the end of the year. COLORADO CHICAGO Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts Greer 1 0 1 Brännström 2 0 2 ALL ABOARD THE #BRANNWAGON Shvyrev 1 0 1 Hyka 0 2 2 Rookie defenseman Erik Brännström never had played a professional game on North American Four tied 0 1 1 Tynan 1 0 1 soil until Friday night, but he certainly didn’t shy away from the moment. Brännström produced the McKenzie/Pirri 0 1 1 game’s first goal with a rocket from the top of the left circle midway through the second period, then scored from slightly closer during the 3-on-3 overtime period. SERIES GAME-BY-GAME Date Location Time SF-SA PP PK Of the eight players who scored 2 goals on the AHL’s Opening Night, Brännström was the only Oct. 5 Budweiser Events Center 3-2 (OT) 17-29 1-5 7-7 defenseman and one of just two rookies to accomplish the feat (San Jose’s Dylan Gambill being the Oct. 6 Budweiser Events Center 8 p.m. - - - other). In short, he lived up to the hype that accompanied the 2017 first-round draft pick when he April 6 Allstate Arena 7 p.m. - - - was assigned to the Wolves by the Vegas Golden Knights last week. The 19-year-old scored four points April 7 Allstate Arena 3 p.m. - - - in five exhibition games for Vegas, which doesn’t include his highlight-reel, game-winning shootout goal. Vegas fans have dubbed him “Brannwagon” as they’re all aboard with his skills and abilities. THROWING IT BACK TO 1994 They’ve even created T-shirts to celebrate the Eksjo, Sweden native. When the Wolves made their regular-season debut on Oct. 1, 1994, with a 6-5 shootout loss at the Detroit Vipers, here was the world as we knew it: THE MEN IN THE NET • NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced on Oct. The Chicago Wolves feature the same two goaltenders on their roster at the start of this season as 1 that the season would not begin as scheduled. In they did at the start of last season: Oscar Dansk and Max Lagace. When the Wolves started last other words, the players were locked out. season at Texas, head coach Rocky Thompson opted to start Lagace on Opening Night and Dansk the • Sparked by a players strike that began on Aug. 12, following evening. Neither game resulted in a win. This time around, Thompson tabbed Dansk to start Major League Baseball did not hold any postseason the opener and the 24-year-old from Stockholm, Sweden, was up to the task. Dansk posted 27 saves games. It marked the only time since 1904 the World in Friday night’s win, including a few point-blank rejections during a critical part of the third period. Series has not been played. • The nation’s No. 1 song was “I’ll Make Love to You” While Thompson never reveals his goaltending plans, it’s not crazy to expect Lagace to get the call by Boyz II Men, which was enjoying its sixth of 14 tonight. In Lagace’s last appearance with the Wolves, he shattered the franchise record for single- consecutive weeks atop the Billboard charts. game saves when he made 72 stops during the team’s triple-overtime loss to the Rockford IceHogs in • The TV show “Friends” premiered nine days earlier. Game 3 of the Central Division Semifinals. • Movie classic “The Shawshank Redemption” was 13 days away from its premiere in theaters. • The Dow Jones Index closed on Sept. 30 at 3,843.19. • An average gallon of gas in 1994 cost $1.09. RELIVING THE OPENER • There were only 2,738 web sites on the internet in FRIDAY, OCT. 5 CHICAGO 3, (at) COLORADO 2 (OT) 1994 and 11.7% of U.S. homes had internet access. • Rookie defenseman Erik Brännström scored 48 seconds into overtime to give the Wolves the victory in their 25th anniversary season opener. ALL-TIME RECORD BREAKDOWN • Brännström scored twice in his professional debut on North American soil. Center T.J. Tynan Season Home Road Overall scored the Wolves’ other goal on the power play while Tomas Hyka posted two assists. 2018-19 0-0-0-0 1-0-0-0 1-0-0-0 • Goaltender Oscar Dansk earned the win with 27 saves during regulation. 2018-19 Chicago Wolves Game Notes 2018-19 BY THE NUMBERS HOME-ROAD CONTRASTS The Wolves hit the ice Friday night with three players wearing the “A” on their sweater: Regular Season Home Away Difference forwards Curtis McKenzie, Brandon Pirri and T.J. Tynan. Each player picked up a point in Goals For 0.00 3.00 3.00 3 the Wolves’ 3-2 overtime win. If last year’s captaincy provides any sort of predictive power, Goals Against 0.00 2.00 2.00 then it could be a while before the Wolves have an official captain. Paul Thompson was given that power in late November last season. Thompson, by the way, recently was named captain for the Springfield Thunderbirds. RECORD BY DIVISION Forward Alex Gallant picked up 12 penalty minutes during Friday’s opener, which shared second place among all AHL players who competed on the Opening Night of the league’s Record Win % Central 0-0-0-0 .000 12 83rd season. Gallant seems a candidate to stay among the leaders all year in PIMS. Last Pacific 1-0-0-0 1.000 season with the Syracuse Crunch, Gallant paced the league with 194 penalty minutes despite playing in only 38 games. RECORD BY MONTH Record Win % The Wolves boast one of the youngest squads in their history. Forwards Curtis October 1-0-0-0 1.000 McKenzie and Brandon Pirri are the grandpas of the crew and they’re just 27 years November 0-0-0-0 .000 27 old. That’s unprecedented for a franchise like the Wolves, which has shown the December 0-0-0-0 .000 willingness and ability to grab players in their 30s who can still contribute at a high level such as January 0-0-0-0 .000 Brett Sterling, Keith Aucoin, Darren Haydar, Jason Krog, Andre Benoit and more. In fact, this marks February 0-0-0-0 .000 the first time in franchise history that the Wolves didn’t have at least one 30-year-old playing on March 0-0-0-0 .000 Opening Night. April 0-0-0-0 .000 With a pair of assists Friday night, Tomas Hyka produced the 49th and 50th points IN OVERTIME (1-0) of his AHL career. That’s a pretty good number considering Hyka has played just 51 Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% 50 games at this level since making his North American professional debut last season. Oscar Dansk 0-0 .000 The 25-year-old from Czech Republic has been a revelation after being the third player to sign with the nascent Vegas Golden Knights in 2017. Not only did Hyka put up 15 goals and 33 assists in 50 games for the Wolves last year, he added 1 goal and 2 assists in 10 appearances for Vegas. Center T.J. Tynan participated in his 300th professional game Friday night IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-0) and made the most of it. The 26-year-old from Chicago’s south suburbs 300 (Orland Park, to be exact) gave the Wolves a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal Shooter Goals-Chances SH% late in the second period. That gives Tynan 16 goals during 71 games in a Wolves uniform and 47 goals Goaltender Saves-Shots SV% in 297 AHL contests for his career. Tynan also has appeared in three games for the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. If you’ve suited up for the Wolves, chances are better than 50/50 that you’ve also played in the National Hockey League. When Daniel Carr, Curtis McKenzie 353 and Zach Whitecloud made their Wolves debuts on Friday night, they became the 351st, 352nd and 353rd players (out of 614) who have competed for the Wolves and in the NHL.