Wolves Split Weekend series in Iowa, Tale of Three Goalies.

Halloween night the Wolves found themselves deep in the Iowa cornfields facing the rechristened Iowa Chops, the jokes about there name quickly stopped as the farm boys beat the Wolves 2: 1 in their first meeting of the season. Basic stats for the game are SOG for each team 28, PIMs Iowa 6 min/4 inf, Chicago 12 min/6 inf.


Saturday morning the Wolves woke with wishes for a change in fortune, they got what they wanted, goalie Ondrej Pavelec was called up to Atlanta to back strengthen the bench while Kari Lethenon recovers from a rumored "illness". Chicago's back up goalie Dan Turple would be between the pipes in Iowa for the night.

The bottom line is that in his first outing as a Wolves goalie Dan Turple did well, turning away 21 SOG, good enough for a 3:1 victory. Tonight back home in Rosemont the decision will be by Coach Granato to start Robert Gherson , last years back up or stick with Turple's hot hand.

Dan Turple has been with the Atlanta system for three years spending most of his time as the primary goalie with the Wolves farm team in Georgia. His previous service with the Wolves was as a back up to Fred Brathwaite in 2007 for the Hamilton series where although dressed did not see ice time.

Robert Gherson was a diamond in the rough that seemed to come out of nowhere last year in most fans eyes. He played a few games, always dressed and was a consistent positive force on the team. You could see him on the bench talking to other players. At the end of each game Gherson was shaking hands and high fiveing each player at the tunnel. Although not often on the ice his value on the team seemed to be else where and obvious. It will be interesting to see how his star rises with Pavelec out of town.
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1st place Belfast Giants fall to 9th place Hull Stingrays 6:3

It was not a good night to be a Giants fan in Belfast. Admittedly I was only able to join the game for the third period after what was described as a lack luster performance by the home team by the webcast announcers. The first place Giants needed to come out for the last period breathing fire and although they tried a few key mistakes sealed their fate for this Saturday night game. Goal five for the Stingrays was simply theirs for the taking, Giants, you just can't hang your goalie to to dry like that, a man needs some company in the defensive zone. The sixth was an ugly empty netter in the last seconds that sent the Giants back to the showers with heads hung low .

My guess the Belfast boys will be off to an early bed tonight and up for a Captain's practice first thing in the morning. Things will be back on course next game, player coach Steve Thorton likes to keep his Giants winning.

We miss you Stewie, our favorite agitator!

It's Saturday morning and as usual I'm at the computer catching up on the weeks photo editing. I have to admit to somewhat enjoying this tedious process. For often ideas come at me when I search through all the photos and sort them one by one, ultimately tossing a thousand or so a week into the trash bin. Today when editing last Sunday's Icehog game photos of Evan Brophy reminded me of a favorite Wolf from years ago. Brophy was yapping at the bench and as he was skating by and at his opposite when he was lining up during face, offs all classic Karl Stewart moves.

For those new to the Wolves or reading this blog Karl Stewart was a LW who played for the Wolves from 2003-06' he played with the spirit of a pond hockey player with clearly on his face. You could see his love for the game in every stride he took on the ice and it was a pleasure to watch him, When he returns to Chicago ice on February 11th with his new team the Rochester Amerks I pray this elan has not been diminished by his two years in the NHL. But there was something else about him, Stewie was pure trouble, an agitator on the ice, all yap his mouth moving all the time. Skating by the opposition bench, stealing the goalies water bottle and squirting himself down in celebration after a goal. He could make us laugh, cheer after one of his many goals and stop our hearts with a break a way that seemed to come from nowhere. No saint on the ice he often seemed to have a target on his back as far as the officiating staff were concerned and often was one of the leaders of the team in PIMs. In essence he was our bad boy and we loved our Stewie for it!

Since Stewart left the team in 06' the Wolves have lacked an adjator and it has seemed to be a missing element in the mix somehow. Yes, Boris Valibik does his best but he doesn't quite have the pure spice of the classic yappers. As the shopping season starts and trade rumors abound in the AHL please Kevin Cheveldayoff find the Wolves a good old fashioned yippy yapper, a nice small dog with lots of fight in him who can drive the other team to distraction . You know the one, he's the guy that reminds you of Spike, the poodle next door!

Wolves Show no Mercy, No Quarter to Providence Bruins, Win 6:0

Life for players in the AHL is very different depending on which conference you play in. In the West where the Chicago Wolves are located the teams are accustomed to an aggressive travel schedule. Working life is frankly a series of practices and winning is often is as much of a product of maintaining training and focus on the road as work on the ice. In the East life is quiter, teams are usually separated by less than 100 miles and it is often joked that it is in players contracts that they must be tucked into their own beds every night with a cup of coco by the team equipment manager.

Every year at AHL league meetings it is the same script the West demands the East divisions start to travel west. The East cries poverty and since they are often the older teams in the league clout usually wins out. This year however a crack in the armour developed two teams are traveling west on quick tours and Western fans will finally get a chance to see the famous physicality of the Eastern game. Last night in the Allstate the famous eastern game did show up at times but the west dominated for the entire game.

It is easy to describe this game, first period goalie Tuukka Rask let in the first goal at 1:09 in the first period, he looked like he didn't know how the puck got there. The next two goals got in the net the same way. At the break Providence coach Rob Murray pulled Rask in favor of Kevin Regan. The Baby Bruins then had their best frame of the night and kept the Wolves scoreless. However, the road weary Bruins let down in the third period and the Wolves eager to make a stand against a possible playoff opponent went for the kill and got in three more. Boris Valibik had a brilliant night, with two assists, goal and a booming dinger he was given the second star of the game. Many more games like this and he will be called up to Wolves parent club in Atlanta before Christmas. Boris you will be missed.

Here are some images of the game.







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Sometimes you see poetry in motion , or was it just great defence...

Serendipity, is a great muse. I often complain about the endless hours it takes to winnow out the 600-800 images taken at every game to the 40-60 ultimately on file. But sometimes the process can lead to absolutely delightful discoveries, this morning was one of those moments. It was third period of last Saturdays Peoria's game and I had placed the camera on continuous shoot as usual. There was a moment of action at goal where Pavelec was out of the crease and the defence had to take it up several notches the following is what happened over the next several seconds. The photos are all as untouched and as taken.






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Nice work Artus Kulda, Spencer Machack and Jordan Lavallee!

The winning continues..Wolves take San Antoino 2:1

Last night at the Allstate the Chicago wolves took another step forward putting doubts behind them. After spending the first few minutes of the first period getting a seance of each other Chicago's Spencer Machaeck teamed up with Matt Anderson and Joe Motzko to start the fire woks early. It was a beautifully executed goal and started the night out right for the home team.

The expected physicality of the game did not develop, penalty minutes were not exceptional with the Rampage earning 26 min/13 inf and the Wolves 22 min/11 inf. In general referee Ian Croft and his team of linesmen Bryn Pancich and Aaron Mills maintained good control for the entire game despite several decent attempts at line brawls. The on ice staff has a tough job it is a fine line between letting the game play itself out and mayhem. The team managed it last night especially during the feisty second and third periods. The 3rd period tripping call on the Rampage goalie Al Moyntaya was an astute good call, it set the tone for the period.


One of the stand out players in this observers eye was Jamie Rivers,his first season with the team he is making a mark for himself. Already wearing the "A" he is a on ice leader. It is easy to catch him encouraging and checking on the younger players constantly during the game. At one point during the game last night I put down my camera just to watch him skate. Put down the camera? Yes, he is possibly the the best skater the Wolves have seen in a long time.
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The young pups are going to need the leadership on and off of the ice if the team is going to continue in their winning tradition. The "old men" of the team, Steve Martins and Jamie Rivers have a tall order for this season keeping their young charges advancing in skills and maturing in hockey smarts.

It is early days in the 08' AHL season but the Wolves seem to be making progress shaking their tail feathers and putting doubts behind them. It was a pity that Tuesday's game was seen by such a small crowd the published attendance was 3238. However, it could be questioned if over 2,000 or so spectators came dressed as empty seats. The next home game for the Wolves is Sunday 10/26 at 3:00pm.


It will be the first meeting of the season against favorite rivals Blackhawk affiliate the Rockford Icehogs. Icehog fans are an enthusiastic bunch and there will probably be a large contingent of cowbell wielding, pig snout wearing dyed in the wool Hog Fans. If last year is any indication there probably will be a bit of fire on the ice to cheer on. But remember everyone in the stands, you play nice kids.

Wolves Win Two in a Row, Flames and Rivermen fall to Hungry Wolves!

It has been a good weekend for Chicago Wolves fans. Friday night the Wolves warmed up for their home opener by shutting out the Quad city Flames 1:0 in the Wireless Center before 2387 Flames fans. Quad City goalie Matt Keetley turned away 25 SOG while Chicago's Ondrej Pavelec another 25. Penalty minutes were not equally divided between teams however, Quad City received 14 min/7 infractions while referee Ian Croftt awarded Chicago 8 min/4 inf. A number although not excessive to either team does appear unbalanced on the surface. That is unless the Wolves had their angel faces on for the night.

Home opener in Rosemont started with what has become regular event, raising the championship banner from the previous season. When it came time for all members of last years squad to join dignitaries for a photo around the Clader Cup it became apparent that by quick estimation 60% of this years team are returnees. Most of which may be not be "stars" but come with experience of the cup run none the less and this bodes well for the team and the future season.

As the game unfolded against the Peoria Rivermen both teams seem eager to test each other out both in front of the net and to fill the lines of each others dance cards. Boris Valabik was challenged several times in the first period alone, this "chippiness" continued throughout the night. In the end Valabik finished the game with 8 penalty minutes, a fairly light night for the Wolves "Excitable Boy". In the closing moments of the game Chicago's Joey Crabb and Peoria's Brad Winchester both dropped the gloves at the 20:00 mark. So intense were the initial moments the linesmen simply let the players have at it for a full minute before intervening. The crowd went wild and the players offered support by thumping their sticks on the ice. Indeed, a classic hockey moment. PIMs for both teams totalled a balanced Peoria 27 min/12 inf, Chicago 25 min/11 inf, by referee Nygel Pelletier. As always an observer could argue that there were missed calls on both sides but obviously infractions were awarded evenly by minutes.

In the end the only statistic that only matters is the score, the Chicago Wolves retired to the locker room as the victor 2:3 over the Peoria Rivermen. The home team is now 500 in the young season after a rocky start, lets hope they keep the new growth and winning going. The next Chicago Wolves home game is next Tuesday October 21st at the Allstate Arena, puck drop at 7:00pm. Given the fact that it is a week day game the attendance most likely will be much lower than the opening games 11,988. Good seats should be available until game time.

On a personal note many thanks to Snydes and her sister Fids who arranged the import of a carload of Tim Horton's Timbits to celebrate the home opener. It was an absolutely insanely delicious way to start the season. These two ladies smuggled a carload of Timbits for posters on www.wolfkeeper.org. As I have said before you just have to believe in insanity like this, these are the things that make the sport of hockey and it's culture the best.
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