2020-21 Chicago Wolves Game Notes CHICAGO AT ROCKFORD MAY 14, 2021 6 P.M. AHLTV.COM A NIGHT TO REMEMBER 2020-21 Not only did the Chicago Wolves clinch their fourth Central Division title in the last five years with TALE OF THE TAPE their 7-0 victory Wednesday night at Grand Rapids, they made a little history while doing it. For just the sixth time in the Wolves’ 2,322-game history (2,073 regular season and 249 postseason), they REGULAR-SEASON SERIES produced a hat trick and a shutout in the same game. 2-7-0-0 Rockford | 7-1-0-1 Chicago LAST MEETING May 10, 2021 Rookie goaltender Beck Warm’s 35-save performance marked the 137th shutout in Wolves annals while rookie forward David Cotton’s hat trick served as the team’s first of the season and 107th in organization history. Coincidentally, all six shutout/hat trick combos have come on the road. Here’s the company they now keep: 11-18-1-0 20-8-1-2 DATE OPPONENT SHUTOUT (SAVES) HAT TRICK SCORE Jan. 31, 1997 at Milwaukee Ray LeBlanc (16) Brad Purdie 6-0 SERIES LEADERS April 20, 2003 at Hershey Norm Maracle (26) Simon Gamache 6-0 Oct. 7, 2006 at Peoria Michael Garnett (28) Jason Krog 5-0 GRAND RAPIDS CHICAGO Dec. 27, 2013 at Lake Erie Jake Allen (19) Sergey Andronov 4-0 Skater G A Pts Skater G A Pts Dec. 8, 2018 at Rockford Oscar Dansk (32) Brandon Pirri 4-0 Wilkie 3 4 7 Tomasino 5 6 11 May 12, 2021 at Grand Rapids Beck Warm (35) David Cotton 7-0 Busdeker 1 6 7 x Jeannot 5 5 10 Franson 1 6 7 Novak 1 6 7 WHAT’S LEFT TO DO? Pirri 5 1 6 Cotton/Rees 5 1 6 With two games remaining against Rockford and no postseason run for which to prepare, what can the Wolves use as motivational targets as they close out the season? SERIES GAME-BY-GAME Date Location Result SF-SA PP PK Points percentage: The Wolves can finish with the league’s best record, but it will take some work. Feb. 6 Rockford MetroCentre W, 5-4 36-32 1-5 3-6 Chicago sits at .694 entering tonight’s game, which ranks third in the American Hockey League. With Feb. 9 Wolves Training Facility W, 5-2 27-25 1-6 8-9 two victories, they can max out with a .712 points percentage. Feb. 16 Rockford MetroCentre W, 3-2 36-39 1-4 5-5 March 27 Wolves Training Facility W, 6-2 37-26 2-5 1-1 The Hershey Bears (.742) have two games remaining and the Laval Rocket (.742) have three games March 28 Rockford MetroCentre W, 5-4 33-24 0-3 2-5 to go. If the Wolves win both of their games while the Bears lose both of theirs in regulation and the April 3 Wolves Training Facility W, 4-2 35-33 1-1 3-3 Rocket earns no more than two points from its three games against Toronto, then Chicago finishes April 7 Rockford MetroCentre L, 3-4 33-17 1-2 4-4 atop the 28-team league. April 17 Rockford MetroCentre SOL, 3-4 26-41 1-2 2-2 May 10 Wolves Training Facility W, 6-5 31-28 0-2 2-3 Goal differential: This is another way to measure a team’s overall strength. The Wolves have scored May 14 Rockford MetroCentre 128 goals and allowed 89 in their first 31 games. That +39 goal differential leads the AHL by a good May 15 Wolves Training Facility margin, though there are teams within striking distance. Laval (+30), Hershey (+29), Syracuse (+25), Henderson (+25) and Bakersfield (+23) are the other squads with at least a +20 margin. ALL-TIME RECORD BREAKDOWN Seasons Home Road Overall Scoring: The Wolves have all but ensured they will pace the AHL in goals per game. Wednesday’s 2007-21 50-21-5-3 28-37-5-6 78-57-10-9 7-goal outburst pushed their average to 4.13 per game. Only the Syracuse Crunch (3.71) are within a half-goal per night. WE ARE THE WOLVES LAST TWO GAMES On May 13, 2014, while facing the Toronto Marlies in the Western Conference Semifinals, the Wolves (and WEDNESDAY, MAY 12 CHICAGO 7, GRAND RAPIDS 0 thousands of other travelers) were stranded at O’Hare • Rookie forward David Cotton recorded the team’s first hat trick of the season and the first of his Airport while preparing to fly to Toronto for Game 3. career as the Wolves clinched their fourth Central Division title in five years. • Forwards Sean Malone and Sheldon Rempal and defensemen Max Lajoie and Frederic Allard also A fire at an air traffic control center in west suburban scored goals while rookie forward Phil Tomasino handed out three assists. Aurora disrupted nearly 2,000 flights across North • Rookie goaltender Beck Warm stopped 35 shots to earn his second professional shutout. America. The Wolves wound up getting to Toronto well after midnight for their May 14 game against the MONDAY, MAY 10 (AT) CHICAGO 6, ROCKFORD 5 Marlies. • Rookies Phil Tomasino and Jamieson Rees scored in the opening 71 seconds as the Wolves scored four times in the first period to set the tone for the matinee win. Despite the chaotic and sleep-deprived situation, the • Rees added a second goal and forwards Brandon Hickey, David Cotton and Tommy Novak also Wolves battled the Marlies to a 3-3 tie in regulation scored while forward Dominik Bokk and defenseman Josh Healey added two assists apiece. before Toronto claimed the game on Jerry D’Amigo’s • Goaltender Beck Warm posted 23 saves to pick up his team-high seventh win. goal at 3:28 of overtime. 2020-21 Chicago Wolves Game Notes 2020-21 BY THE NUMBERS HOME-ROAD CONTRASTS Regular Season Home Away Difference With two games left in the season, the Wolves are in good shape to lead the American Goals For 4.40 3.88 0.52 Hockey League in goals per game for the first time since the 2008 Calder Cup champions Goals Against 2.67 3.06 0.39 1 accomplished the feat. This year’s Wolves average 4.13 goals per night, which stands 0.42 goals ahead of second-place Syracuse. However, they’re going to need to score nine goals over the RECORD BY OPPONENT final two 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 7-3-0-0 .700 Wolves center Tommy Novak set up the second of rookie David Cotton’s three goals Iowa 6-2-0-0 .750 Wednesday night to push his season-best point streak to eight games. The 24-year-old Rockford 7-1-0-1 .833 8 Wisconsin native has racked up four goals and eight assists during his streak that began April 26. His spree has boosted his season’s totals to seven goals and 22 assists in 25 games — or 1.16 RECORD BY MONTH points per game. He shares sixth place on the AHL’s assists list. Record Win % February 8-1-0-0 .889 March 4-1-0-1 .750 It’s fair to suggest the Wolves boast the most productive special teams in the AHL. April 6-3-1-1 .636 Chicago has scored 32 power-play goals while allowing just 23. That +9 margin is tied May 2-3-0-0 .400 15 for second in the league behind Cleveland (+10). However, the Wolves share the league lead in short-handed goals (7) while giving up just one shortie. That makes the Wolves a net +15 on special teams, which leads everyone. Cleveland stands next at +13. IN OVERTIME (1-1) Nineteen-year-old rookie forward Phil Tomasino dished out a career-high three assists Goaltender Saves-Shots (10-11) SV% Antoine Bibeau (1-0) 3-3 1.000 in Wednesday’s game to push his season total to 32 points (13G, 19A). That puts him three Connor Ingram (0-0) 5-5 1.000 32 points ahead of Tommy Novak for the team lead, which means he has a good chance to Beck Warm (0-1) 7-8 .875 join Ty Rattie (48 points in 2013-14) and Lucas Elvenes (48 points in 2019-20) as the only rookies to pace the Wolves in scoring. Tomasino also ranks second among all AHL rookies in points. IN THE SHOOTOUT (0-2) The Wolves have required 45 players to get through their 31 games, which is just two Shooter Goals-Chances (0-5) SH% players away from tying the franchise record for the most needed to get through a Dominik Bokk 0-1 .000 45 regular season. The 2010-11 crew needed 47 players to complete an 80-game schedule. Patrick Harper 0-1 .000 Tommy Novak 0-1 .000 Of the Wolves’ 45 players this season, all but two participated in victories. David Cotton 0-2 .000 Three of the Wolves’ seven goals Wednesday night were scored by rookie David Cotton, Goaltender Saves-Shots (2-5) SV% which means the team’s 14 rookie skaters have combined for 62 of the team’s 128 goals Antoine Bibeau (0-1) 2-3 .667 62 Connor Ingram (0-1) 0-2 .000 (or 48 percent of the team’s goals).