Tale of the Tape: Nov. 19, 2016 vs. Iowa

Saturday, Nov. 19 | 7 p.m. | Allstate Arena

Return to the Den

The Chicago Wolves return to Allstate Arena for the first time since Oct. 30 when they defeated the reigning Calder Cup champion Cleveland Monsters 4-2 for their first home- ice victory of the season. An annual tradition, the Wolves were away for two weeks as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus took over Allstate and performed 14 shows in the fortnight span. The circus has left town, and now the Wolves are competing at Allstate one last time before Thanksgiving. Following the holiday, the team will host three games in five days at their home arena against the Rockford IceHogs (Nov. 26), Manitoba Mosse (Nov. 27) and the Texas Stars (Nov. 30). The team will host seven contests at Allstate during December, beginning with Star Wars Night on Dec. 3 against the Iowa Wild.

Tough as Nails

The Chicago Wolves recalled left wing Emerson Clark from the Tulsa Oilers (ECHL) on Nov. 13. Last season, the 23-year-old skated in the final 29 games of the season with the Wolves on a professional tryout contract, and on April 20, 2016, Clark signed a deal with the team for the 2016-17 season. The former Oshawa General (OHL) is known for his hard style of play and sticking up for his teammates. Through his 167-game ECHL career, Clark has accrued 626 penalty minutes. Clark is not stranger to contributing more than just penalty minutes to the scoresheet; he has registered 45 goals and 39 assists for 84 points throughout his ECHL career. Tonight marks Clark’s second game this season with the Wolves; he debuted last night in Chicago’s 3-2 setback against the Iowa Wild. He skated on a line with center Conner Bleackley and fellow hard-nosed wing Jacob Doty.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

The Wolves lost 3-2 to the Iowa Wild Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena for the first time since February 7, 2014. The loss ended the Wolve’s franchise-record streak for wins on an opponent’s home ice at 12 games and marked just the ninth loss for Chicago against Iowa in 31 games since the Wild’s relocation to Des Moines. In Friday’s contest, defenseman Brad Hunt registered 2 points (G, A) to continue as the AHL’s top-scoring defenseman and blueliner Jordan Schmaltz nabbed his first goal of the year in his 2016-17 season debut

BY THE NUMBERS:

• 2: A highlight of the Chicago Wolves 2016 offseason was the re-signing of AHL veteran and Wolves poster child Brett Sterling. Returning from three seasons in Europe, Sterling has a chance to rewrite more of the Wolves record book by moving up a few of the all-time scoring lists. Through 310 games — including eight this season — with Chicago, the California native has 170 goals and 143 assists for 311 points. Right now, Sterling is No. 7 on the all-time assists list and needs just two to pass Steve Larouche and take sole possession of the No. 6 spot. For his next attainable milestone, the 32-year-old needs to appear in 13 more games to pass Wolves general manager Wendell Young for No. 10 on the all-time games-played list.
  
• 16: Defenseman Brad Hunt is the Wolves’ leading scorer, as well as the American Hockey League’s top-scoring defenseman with 5 goals and 11 assists for 16 points. Hunt is one goal behind center Ivan Barbashev for the team lead in
  goals. The pair are the only two skaters with five-game point streaks for the Wolves this season. In Friday night’s 3-2 setback against the Iowa Wild at Wells Fargo Arena, Hunt registered points No. 15 and 16. First, Hunt wired a shot from the top of the slot to get the Wolves on the board in the second period, then he registered the secondary assist on Jordan Schmaltz’s first goal of the season.

• 102: Goaltender Jordan Binnington’s next game will be his 102nd career AHL contest. Playing in his fourth professional season, Binnington has appeared in 96 regular-season AHL games and 5 playoff tilts. Sitting on 48 victories — including two playoff Ws — the 23-year-old is also in the hunt for his 50th career AHL win. Last season, Binnington led Wolves goaltenders with 17 victories, 41 games played and 2,341 minutes played. The Richmond Hill, Ontario, native made his NHL debut against the Carolina Hurricanes. He also served as a Black Ace for the Blues during the 2016 NHL postseason.

• 198: Left wing Andrew Agozzino has 198 career AHL points (81G, 117A) and is in the hunt for No. 199 and 200. The 25-year-old is entering his fifth season as a professional. In that time, he led the then-Lake Erie Monsters in scoring in back-to-back seasons. He is also just one of five skaters to reach the career 100-point mark in Monsters franchise history. This season through 10 games with the Wolves, Agozzino has four points, including a short-handed tally, in the club’s 4-2 loss against the reigning Calder Cup champions, and Agozzino’s former team,
  Cleveland Monsters.

• 399: Tonight marks center Landon Ferraro’s 399th career professional game. The Trail, British Columbia, native is in his seventh full season at the pro level. During his overage season in the WHL, Ferraro made his professional debut with the Grand Rapids Griffins. And on March 18, 2014, he made his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings versus the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 25-year-old was drafted by Detroit in the second round, 32nd overall, of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Since then, Ferraro has skated in 82 NHL games — including seven playoff games — and accrued 11 points (6G, 5A). Through 317 AHL games, the first-year Wolves player has 167 career points (84G, 83A).

Recent Games Recap

• 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.

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