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Chicago Wolves
American Hockey League team in Rosemont, Illinois

The Chicago Wolves are a professional ice hockey team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wolves play home games at the Allstate Arena.

Originally a member of the International Hockey League, the Wolves joined the AHL after the IHL folded in 2001.

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History

The Wolves won the Turner Cup twice (1998, 2000) in the IHL and the Calder Cup three times (2002, 2008, and 2022). The Wolves qualified for all but five postseasons (2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13, and 2015–16 seasons), appearing in eight league championship finals (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2019 and 2022) in their 22-year history.

The team's most notable player was forward Steve Maltais, who until his retirement after the 2004–05 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 long time Chicago Blackhawks stars Troy Murray, Chris Chelios and Al Secord. 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 a two–year affiliation agreement.1

On April 23, 2013, the Wolves and St. Louis Blues reached a three-year affiliation agreement. The deal was struck after the Canucks and Wolves decided not to renew their existing affiliation agreement and purchased the Peoria Rivermen franchise from the Blues creating the Utica Comets.2 In November 2016, it was first reported the Blues would not renew their affiliation with the Wolves and were planning to move their affiliation to Kansas City for 2017.3 However, this was unconfirmed and then denied by the announced potential owner in Kansas City, Lamar Hunt Jr., in a press release from his ECHL team in the area, the Missouri Mavericks,4 and further denied by AHL commissioner, David Andrews, after the January 2017 Board of Governors meeting.5

After the 2016–17 season, the Wolves became the first affiliate of the NHL's expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights.6 The Blues did not re-sign with the Wolves to be their primary NHL affiliate for the 2017–18 season. However, Blues' general manager Doug Armstrong confirmed they would still send prospects to the Wolves for that season.7

During the first season of their affiliation with Vegas, the Wolves set a pair of franchise records in earning points in 14 straight games from December 9 to January 68 and 13 consecutive home wins from December 6 to February 15.9 In the 2018–19 season, the Wolves made the Calder Cup Finals, in which they lost to the Charlotte Checkers in five games.10 During the 2019–20 season, the Golden Knights stated it was looking to own and operate its own AHL team in the Las Vegas region in 2020–21, but it would not be the Wolves.11 The Golden Knights agreed to purchase the San Antonio Rampage franchise and move it to the Las Vegas area as the Henderson Silver Knights.12 On September 10, 2020, the Wolves announced an affiliation agreement with the Carolina Hurricanes.13 In addition, the Wolves added a temporary secondary NHL affiliate in the Nashville Predators for the 2020–21 season as the Predators' affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, opted out of the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season.14 For the 2020–21 season, the teams' home games were at their training facility at the Triphahn Center in Hoffman Estates due to arena restrictions for fans during the pandemic.15

During the 2023–24 season, the Wolves played as independent AHL team, becoming the first independent AHL team since the 1994–95 season.16 On May 2, 2024, the team renewed its affiliation with the Carolina Hurricanes for a three-year term beginning with the 2024–25 season.17

On May 6, 2025, the Greensboro Gargoyles, an ECHL expansion team in Greensboro, North Carolina, beginning play in October 2025, announced their affiliation with the Carolina Hurricanes, which in turn aligned them with the Wolves, as the AA farm team.18 Greensboro was the original home of the Carolina Hurricanes for two years after their move from Hartford, Connecticut, before moving to Raleigh, North Carolina, while waiting for their arena to be constructed.

Television

The Wolves once were the only AHL team with a full television package. 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; the Wolves took advantage of this, going so far as to promote themselves with the slogan "We Play Hockey The Old-Fashioned Way: We Actually Win". 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 after Bill Wirtz died and his son Rocky took over the team, reversing many of his father's policies, one of which allowed the Blackhawks' games to be aired locally on TV.19 Since 2008, Jason Shaver has handled the play-by-play duties for the Wolves, along with Gardner.

Today, select regular-season home games are broadcast on WPWR-TV (My50), and WMEU-CD (The U), and all games are streamed on AHLTV.

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 seasonPlayoffs
SeasonGamesWonLostOTLSOLPointsPCTGoalsforGoalsagainstStandingYearDiv 1st RdDiv SemiDiv FinalsConf. FinalsFinals
2020–21332191245.682132941st, Central2021No playoffs were held
2021–2276501655110.7242611941st, Central2022—W, 3–0, RFDW, 3–1, MILW, 4–2, STOW, 4–1, SPR
2022–237235295378.5422272446th, Central2023Did not qualify
2023–247223357760.4171922537th, Central2024Did not qualify
2024–257237314078.5422052234th, Central2025L, 0–2, RFD————

Players

Current roster

Updated April 30, 2025.2021

No.NatPlayerPosS/GAgeAcquiredBirthplaceContract
4Dominik BadinkaDR192025Chomutov, Czech RepublicHurricanes
25Blake Biondi (ATO)CR232025Hermantown, MinnesotaWolves
22Skyler Brind'AmourCL252024Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaHurricanes
2Domenick FensoreDL232023Bronxville, New YorkHurricanes
21Dominic FrancoRWR292023Scituate, Rhode IslandWolves
10Noel GunlerRWR232024Luleå, SwedenHurricanes
34Aleksi HeimosalmiDR222024Pori, FinlandHurricanes
12Danny KaticLWL242024Porcupine, OntarioWolves
80Ruslan KhazheyevGR202024Chelyabinsk, RussiaHurricanes
5Charles-Alexis LegaultDR212024Laval, QuebecHurricanes
58Bryce MontgomeryDR222024Washington, D.C.Hurricanes
82Bradly NadeauLWR202024Saint-François-de-Madawaska, New BrunswickHurricanes
9Joel NystromDR232025Karlstad, SwedenHurricanes
28Sahil PanwarCL232024Mississauga, OntarioWolves
15Nikita PavlychevCL282024Yaroslavl, RussiaWolves
60Yaniv PeretsGR252024Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QuebecHurricanes
93Justin RobidasCR222024Plano, TexasHurricanes
47Joakim RyanDL312024Rumson, New JerseyHurricanes
8Ronan Seeley (A)DL222022Olds, AlbertaHurricanes
23Josiah Slavin (C)LWL262024Erie, ColoradoHurricanes
6Ryan SuzukiCL242024London, OntarioHurricanes
13Nick Swaney (A)RWR272024Lakeville, MinnesotaWolves
31Dustin TokarskiGL352024Humboldt, SaskatchewanHurricanes
71Gleb TrikozovLWR202024Omsk, RussiaHurricanes
20Yanick TurcotteLWL282024Quebec, QuebecWolves
14Felix Unger SörumRWR192024Trondheim, NorwayHurricanes
18Austin WagnerLWL272024Calgary, AlbertaWolves

Team captains

Notable alumni

The following players have played both 100 games for the Wolves and 100 games in the National Hockey League:

Retired numbers

Chicago Wolves retired numbers
No.PlayerPositionCareerNo. retirement
1Wendell YoungG1994–2001December 1, 200122
11Steve MaltaisLW1994–2005April 15, 200623

Team records

Single season

TypeNumberPlayerSeason
Goals60Steve Maltais1996–9724
Assists91Rob Brown1995–9625
Points143Rob Brown1995–9626
Penalty minutes390Kevin MacDonald1994–9527
Hat-tricks5Steve Maltais1996–9728
Power play goals27Steve Maltais1995–96 & 1996–9729
Short-handed goals7Ben Simon2002–0330
Plus–minus+47Arturs Kulda2009–1031
Wins38Kari Lehtonen2004–0532
Shutouts7Jake Allen2013–1433

Career

TypeNumberPlayer
Goals454Steve Maltais34
Assists497Steve Maltais35
Points951Steve Maltais36
Penalty minutes1061Steve Maltais37
Hat-tricks18Steve Maltais38
Power play goals195Steve Maltais39
Short-handed goals21Derek MacKenzie40
Game winning goals67Steve Maltais41
Games played839Steve Maltais42
Wins169Wendell Young43
Shutouts16Wendell Young44

See also

Bibliography

  • Skelnik, Justin, ed. (2012). 2012–13 Chicago Wolves Media Guide.

References

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  2. "Blues Announce Affiliation with Wolves". St. Louis Blues. April 23, 2013. Archived from the original on 2018-03-21. Retrieved April 23, 2013. https://www.nhl.com/blues/news/blues-announce-affiliation-with-wolves/c-667265 ↩

  3. Schaeffer, Brenden (November 30, 2016). "Report: Blues AHL affiliation to move to Kansas City". KMOV. Archived from the original on 2016-12-01. Retrieved November 30, 2016. http://www.kmov.com/story/33827728/report-blues-ahl-affiliation-to-move-to-kansas-city ↩

  4. Spedden, Zach (December 2, 2016). "Missouri Mavericks Deny Reports on AHL and Kansas City". Arena Digest. Archived from the original on 2016-12-03. Retrieved December 2, 2016. http://arenadigest.com/2016/12/02/missouri-mavericks-deny-reports-on-ahl-and-kansas-city/ ↩

  5. Timmermann, Tom (January 31, 2017). "Blue Notes: Reaves moving to third line, at least to start". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved January 31, 2017. http://www.stltoday.com/sports/hockey/professional/blue-notes-reaves-moving-to-third-line-at-least-to/article_e582beb1-e8b5-593a-ba90-764997251104.html ↩

  6. "WOLVES, GOLDEN KNIGHTS ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP". American Hockey League. May 16, 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-05-17. Retrieved May 16, 2017. http://theahl.com/wolves-golden-knights-announce-partnership ↩

  7. "Armstrong statement on AHL affiliation". St. Louis Blues. May 16, 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-09-12. Retrieved May 16, 2017. https://www.nhl.com/blues/news/armstrong-statement-on-ahl-affiliation/c-289468858 ↩

  8. Hoffman, Samantha (January 11, 2018). "Gulls Stop Wovles' Point Streak at 14 Games". The Sin Bin. Archived from the original on June 9, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) https://web.archive.org/web/20190609072834/https://thesinbin.net/gulls-stop-wolves-point-streak-at-14-games/ ↩

  9. "Special Teams Power Wolves to Franchise-Record 13th Consecutive Home Win". Chicago Wolves. February 15, 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-06-20. Retrieved November 8, 2021. https://www.chicagowolves.com/2018/02/15/specials-teams-power-wolves-franchise-record-13th-consecutive-home-win/ ↩

  10. Smith, Michael (June 8, 2018). "Charlotte Checkers win Calder Cup". Carolina Hurricanes. Archived from the original on 2019-06-09. Retrieved June 9, 2019. https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/charlotte-checkers-win-calder-cup/c-307764508 ↩

  11. Schoen, David (January 27, 2020). "Golden Knights looking to buy AHL club and move it to Las Vegas". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on 2020-01-28. Retrieved January 27, 2020. https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/goldenknights/golden-knights-looking-to-buy-ahl-club-and-move-it-to-las-vegas-1944550/ ↩

  12. Dietz, John (February 7, 2020). "Golden Knights purchase AHL franchise, Wolves owner confident team will find new NHL partnership". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on 2020-02-07. Retrieved February 7, 2020. https://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20200206/golden-knights-purchase-ahl-franchise-wolves-owner-confident-team-will-find-new-nhl-partnership ↩

  13. "Wolves forge partnership with Carolina Hurricanes". Chicago Wolves. September 10, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved September 10, 2020. https://www.chicagowolves.com/2020/09/10/wolves-forge-partnership-with-carolina-hurricanes/ ↩

  14. "Wolves take on Predators as second affiliate for 2020-21". American Hockey League. January 7, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-01-07. Retrieved January 7, 2021. https://theahl.com/wolves-take-on-predators-as-second-affiliate-for-2020-21 ↩

  15. "GAMEDAY: OUR 27TH OPENER!". Chicago Wolves. February 5, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-02-05. Retrieved February 5, 2021. https://www.chicagowolves.com/2021/02/05/gameday-our-27th-opener/ ↩

  16. "Chicago Wolves To Play As An Independent AHL Team". Pro Hockey Rumors. April 5, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2023. https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2023/04/chicago-wolves-to-play-as-an-independent-ahl-team.html ↩

  17. "Together Again: Wolves and Canes Forge New Partnership" (Press release). Chicago Wolves. May 2, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2024. https://www.chicagowolves.com/2024/05/02/together-again-wolves-and-canes-forge-new-partnership/ ↩

  18. "Greensboro Gargoyles Enter into Affiliation Agreement with the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes" (Press release). Greensboro Gargoyles. May 6, 2025. Retrieved May 6, 2025. https://gargoyleshockey.com/news/2025/05/greensboro-gargoyles-enter-into-affiliation-agreement-with-the-nhls-carolina-hurricanes ↩

  19. "Pat Foley returns to Hawks". Chicago Sun-Times. June 16, 2008. Archived from the original on July 1, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) https://web.archive.org/web/20080701131247/http://www.suntimes.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/1008218,earlyhawk061608.article ↩

  20. "Chicago Wolves Roster". Archived from the original on 2021-10-14. Retrieved April 30, 2025. https://theahl.com/stats/roster/330/73?league=4 ↩

  21. "Chicago Wolves Roster". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 2003-11-15. Retrieved April 30, 2025. http://www.eliteprospects.com/team.php?team=94 ↩

  22. "All-Time favorite Chicago Wolves moment". Chicago Wolves. February 3, 2016. Archived from the original on 2019-07-04. Retrieved February 3, 2017. https://www.chicagowolves.com/all-time-favorite-chicago-wolves-moment-tournament-bracket-2/ ↩

  23. "All-Time favorite Chicago Wolves moment". Chicago Wolves. February 3, 2016. Archived from the original on 2019-07-04. Retrieved February 3, 2017. https://www.chicagowolves.com/all-time-favorite-chicago-wolves-moment-tournament-bracket-2/ ↩

  24. Skelnik 2012, pp. 124 - Skelnik, Justin, ed. (2012). 2012–13 Chicago Wolves Media Guide. ↩

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  26. Skelnik 2012, pp. 124 - Skelnik, Justin, ed. (2012). 2012–13 Chicago Wolves Media Guide. ↩

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  29. Skelnik 2012, pp. 125 - Skelnik, Justin, ed. (2012). 2012–13 Chicago Wolves Media Guide. ↩

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  32. Skelnik 2012, pp. 125 - Skelnik, Justin, ed. (2012). 2012–13 Chicago Wolves Media Guide. ↩

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  41. Skelnik 2012, pp. 124 - Skelnik, Justin, ed. (2012). 2012–13 Chicago Wolves Media Guide. ↩

  42. "Wolves to retire Maltais' No. 11.(Sports)". Daily Herald. January 27, 2006. Archived from the original on February 22, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20160222074014/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-141460093.html ↩

  43. Spellman, Mike (November 30, 2001). "Ring master Wolves will honor former goalie Young by retiring his No. 1.(Sports)". Daily Herald.[dead link] https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-80456894 ↩

  44. Shapiro, Mark (November 7, 2000). "Wolves' Young Blanks Grizzlies". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 22, 2013. https://www.chicagotribune.com/2000/11/27/wolves-young-blanks-grizzlies/ ↩