Wednesday, Oct. 19 | 7 p.m. | Allstate Arena
Dunn Deal
Chicago Wolves rookie defenseman Vince Dunn made his professional debut on Saturday in a 4-2 loss against the Grand Rapids Griffins. In the second period, Dunn put the Wolves on the board past the midway point of the frame when he lasered a shot past Jared Coreau from the left point. Dunn picked up his second point of the game, and his career, in the same period when he registered the second assist on Ivan Barbashev’s net-front deflection.
Allow Me to (Re)Introduce Myself
Wolves center Landon Ferraro fared well against the team with which he started his professional career, the Grand Rapids Griffins. In two games against the Griffins, Ferraro picked up two points (2A), had 6 shots on goal and posted a +1 plus/minus rating.
Guess Who’s Back
Back in AHL action for the first time since April 21, 2013, veteran left wing Brett Sterling netted the lone Wolves marker on Friday night against the Grand Rapids Griffins for his 309th point with Chicago. He’s looking to move up the franchise all-time scoring list; currently ranked No. 5, Sterling is 34 points away from catching former teammate, Jason Krog, who’s No. 4 on the list. Sterling also ranks No. 2 on the club’s all-time goal list with 168. Wolves legend Steve Maltais is No. 1 with 454 goals.
Cheaper By the Dozen
Wednesday night marks the first of 12 Amtrak Rivalry meetings between the Chicago Wolves and the Milwaukee Admirals. The 2016-17 season marks the 23rd consecutive year the two clubs have faced off teams have been battling since the Wolves were founded in 1994. Chicago holds a 110-93-1-10-18 (W-L-T-OTL-SOL) edge in the all-time series. Milwaukee took the teams’ final contest of the 205-16 season, 3-1, with Trevor Murphy scoring the game- winning goal and goaltender Juuse Saros stopping 28 of 29 shots faced on April 12.
Weekend Rewind
Friday, Oct. 14 (at) Grand Rapids 3, Chicago 1
Forward Brett Sterling potted the lone Wolves marker for his 168th goal in a Chicago uniform; it marked his first goal as a Wolves player since April 16, 2013. Goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 31 of 33 shots in his 2016-17 AHL debut. Center Landon Ferraro registered an assist against his former team. Mitch Callahan accounted for two of the Griffins’ three goals in the contest, including the final tally of the game, a power-play empty-netter.
Saturday, Oct. 15 (vs) Grand Rapids 4, Chicago 2
The Wolves closed out their opening weekend 0-2 as they dropped their home opener against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Grand Rapids opened scoring on an Anthony Mantha breakaway on the way to a 3-0 lead. Chicago got on the board in the second period when rookie defenseman Vince Dunn netted his first professional goal, then Ivan Barbashev deflected a Brad Hunt blast for the Wolves’ second tally.
BY THE NUMBERS
5: The number of rookies that made their professional and/or North American professional debuts this weekend with the Wolves. On Friday night, forwards Samuel Blais, Conner Bleackley and Mackenzie MacEachern all played their first professional game in a 3-1 loss to the Griffins in Grand Rapids. Blais (2) and MacEachern (1) combined for three shots in the loss, while Bleackley and MacEachern each earned two-minute minor penalities. Goaltender Ville Husso made his North American professional debut in Saturday’s 4-2 loss to Grand Rapids at Allstate Arena and stopped 24 shots. Defenseman Vince Dunn also made the jump from the junior to professional ranks this weekend, netting his first pro goal, and registering an assist for his second career point, on Saturday.
24: The number of saves rookie goaltender Ville Husso made in his North American professional debut on Saturday in a 4-2 loss against the Grand Rapids Griffins at Allstate Arena. Despite the loss, the rookie netminder made some key saves to keep the game 3-2 late in the second and early in the third periods. Husso backed up third-year AHL netminder Jordan Binnington on Friday and did not see game action.
67: Veteran left wing Brett Sterling is 5-foot-7, or 67 inches tall, making him the shortest player on the Chicago Wolves roster this season. Of course, height isn’t everything, as Sterling is one of the more successful players in Wolves history. Aside from sitting No. 5 on the franchise’s all-time scoring list, Sterling is one of only two current Wolves (Landon Ferraro) to have a Calder Cup (2008) under his belt. Additionally, Sterling has back-to-back Austrian Cup championships (2015, 2016) and two gold medals as a member of Team USA. His 2002 Under-18 Worlds and 2004 World Juniors medals were the first for the United States in both tournaments.
76: Chicago Wolves rookie defenseman Kevin Tansey is the club’s tallest player this season, measuring in at 6-foot-4, or 76 inches. The training camp invitee impressed the Wolves brass enough to earn himself a standard player’s contract for the 2016-17 season. Following a four-year career at Clarkson University, Tansey made his professional debut last season with the Binghamton Senators (AHL). With the Golden Knights, he was a fan favorite for his hard-nosed, hard- hitting style of play. The 23-year-old blueliner appeared in 151 games, one shy of the school’s all-time record.
110: The number of all-time wins the Chicago Wolves have against the Milwaukee Admirals. This season marks the 23rd year the two squads have faced off and the eighth year of the Amtrak Rivalry. Named for the Amtrak national railroad company — and Amtrak’s direct line from Chicago to Milwaukee — each season the Wolves and Admirals battle for the Amtrak Rivalry trophy. The prize is earned based on the collective number of points — two for a regulation win, one for a shootout or overtime loss and zero for a regulation loss — won in head-to-head match- ups. Milwaukee won last year’s Amtrak Rivalry with a 9-3-0-0 record (18 points).
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