Friday, Nov. 18 | 7 p.m. | Wells Fargo Arena
Taming the Wild
The Chicago Wolves own a 22-4-2-2 all-time record against the Iowa Wild since the franchise relocated from Houston to Des Moines for the 2013-14 season. Last season, the Wolves took the 12-game series with a 9-2-1-0 record, including six wins at Wells Fargo Arena. The wins helped the Wolves extend their franchise record for consecutive wins in an opponent’s home arena to 12 games. Their previous record was seven games against the Manitoba Moose from March 5, 1997 to Nov. 13, 1998. The current 12-game streak dates back to April 11, 2014. The Wolves have taken the season series with Iowa in all three years the clubs have faced off since the Wild’s relocation.
Wild Thing
Wing Danny Kristo was last season’s second-leading scorer — a point behind former Wolves player and current Wild center Pat Cannone — against the Wild with 3 goals and 6 assists in 11 games. Last time Kristo was at Wells Fargo Arena on April 15, 2106, he registered 2 goals during regulation — including a short-handed breakaway marker — and the Wolves’ first of two goals in the shootout for a 3-2 Wolves victory and their franchise-record 12th win in an opponent’s home rink. Twice Kristo pulled the Wolves from one-goal deficits.
Wild Wolves
Iowa’s 2016-17 roster includes two former Wolves: Pat Cannone and Jordan Schroeder. Cannone captained Chicago’s 2015-16 squad and had a career year, setting personal-bests with 20 goals, 32 assists and 52 points while leading the Wolves in scoring. He also earned the team’s Dan Syder Man of the Year Award for his all-encompassing commitment to charitable work throughout the Chicago area. The New York native’s efforts capped with “Pistol’s Pals,” which served as a Chicago Wolves Charities initiative to bring hospital patients and their families, as well as families facing other types of adversity, to Wolves home games. Jordan Schroeder spent most of the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons with the Wolves and during that time he appeared in 123 games — including 5 playoff contests — and recorded 44 goals and 35 assists for 79 points in a Wolves uniform.
BY THE NUMBERS:
- 2: Of the active skaters on the Chicago Wolves roster with at least eight games played, only two — Ivan Barbashev and Magnus Paajarvi — have zero penalty minutes this season. Both players haven’t had time to sit in the box given their offensive contributions. Through 13 games, Barbashev has been held scoreless in just four contests and holds a team-leading 6 goals. The Moscow native also has a team- leading 33.3 shooting percentage, good enough to crack the league’s top 10. Paajarvi has been held scoreless in three games thus far and is tied for third among team skaters with a 20 percent shooting percentage. The native of Sweden has spent time playing both wing and center on the Wolves’ top line with Kenny Agostino and Landon Ferraro.
- 33: Center Ivan Barbashev leads Chicago skaters with a 33.3 percent shooting percentage. Through 13 games, the 20-year-old has a team- leading 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 points. Barbashev has potted 6 goals on just 18 shots. On Nov. 5 against the Grand Rapids Griffins at Van Andel Arena, he nabbed two goals — the second of which was so fast the puck got lodged in the goal netting. After the officials spent three minutes attempting unsuccessfully to dislodge the puck, the Grand Rapids ice crew cut the puck free and patched the net. The Moscow native earned first-star status for his performance.
- 100: On Saturday, Nov. 12, against the reigning Calder Cup champion Cleveland Monsters, Wolves captain Chris Butler dressed for his 100th regular-season AHL game. The 30-year-old has appeared in 13 games this season for the Wolves and posted a goal and an assist. Butler almost exclusively has played on Chicago’s top defensive pairing with Brad Hunt, the team’s leading point-getter (4–10—14). Butler, a St. Louis native, also has a deep NHL résumé, having appeared in 387 NHL regular-season games and accruing 84 points (13G, 71A) and 185 penalty minutes. Butler was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the fourth round, 96th overall, of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.
- 197: Through 13 games the Chicago Wolves have racked up 197 penalty minutes, 12th most among the 30 American Hockey League teams. Their two-game series last weekend against the reigning Calder Cup champion Cleveland Monsters marked their most-penalized outings. The club accrued 69 penalty minutes during those two games; of their 14 infractions, eight of those were fights or misconducts. The team’s penalty-minute leader (31) is wing Jordan Caron, who managed to keep his nose clean over the weekend as he registered zero penalties.
Recent Games Recap
Saturday, Nov. 12 (at) Cleveland 4, Chicago 2
- Chicago dropped the second of two games at Quicken Loans Arena.
- Defenseman Brad Hunt registered his defensive league-leading 14th point (4G, 10A), and Wade Megan nabbed his second short-handed goal of the season.
- Goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 27 shots in the loss.
Friday, Nov. 11 (at) Cleveland 2, Chicago 1
- Chicago dropped first of back-to-back games at the Quicken Loans Arena.
- Wing Magnus Paajarv opened scoring at 10:49 of third period with his fourth goal of the season; Kenny Agostino and Landon Ferraro assisted on the play.
- Goaltender Pheonix Copley turned aside 31 shots in the loss and earned third-star and Magnus Paajarv nabbed his third tally of the season.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Friday’s game begins at 7:00 p.m. on The U Too presented by the Illinois Office of Tourism. The U Too is found over the air at WCIU-DT 26.2. Cable subscribers get the channel on Xfinity 230 and 360, RCN 35 and WOW 170 while Dish Network customers find the games on Ch. 48.
Complete broadcast schedule; all games stream live on AHLLive.com
Join the conversation. Follow @Chicago_Wolves for live game updates.
