Wednesday, Nov. 23 | 6 p.m. | Bojangles’ Coliseum
Checkered Past
Wednesday night is the 30th all-time meeting between the Chicago Wolves and the Charlotte Checkers. Over the past six seasons, the Wolves own a 17-9-2-1 record versus the Charlotte. The Wolves have won four out of the last five season series. During the 2012-13 season, the Wolves and Checkers earned two wins each in the four-game series. This season, the Checkers are leading the eight-game season series 1-0-0-0 with a 4-3 regulation win Tuesday night at Bojangles’ Coliseum. After tonight’s contest, the Wolves and Checkers face each other again on Jan. 3 and 7 for a two-game set at Allstate Arena.
The McNeill Deal
This Defenseman Reid McNeill made his Chicago Wolves debut Tuesday night in the club’s 4-3 setback against the Charlotte Checkers. The 24-year-old recently reported to the Wolves following Saturday’s National Hockey League trade between the St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Blues acquired McNeill while the Penguins received Wolves right wing Danny Kristo, last season’s second-leading scorer and top goal-getter for the Wolves. In his debut, McNeill predominantly played on the second defensive pairing with fifth-year AHLer Morgan Ellis.
Moving on up
Forward Brett Sterling is one assist away from passing Steve Larouche for the No. 6 spot on the Wolves’ all-time assists list. In Saturday’s 5-0 victory over the Iowa Wild, Sterling picked up assist No. 144 in a Wolves’ uniform to tie Larouche. This season, Sterling is also looking to break onto the Wolves’ top-10 career games played list. He needs just 11 more games to pass Wolves legendary goaltender and general manager Wendell Young for sole possession of the No. 10 spot. He’s also looking to pass former teammate Jason Krog for the No. 4 spot on the Wolves’ all-time scoring list. Right now, Sterling is touting 170 goals and 144 assists for 312 points in a Wolves uniform. He needs 31 points to pass Krog.
BY THE NUMBERS:
- 1: And there was one: center Ivan Barbashev is the last remaining skater on the active Wolves roster that has skated in at least 10 games without picking up any penalty minutes. The 20-year-old Moscow native has been busy racking up points as the Wolves’ second-leading scorer with 12 points (6G, 6A), six points behind defenseman Brad Hunt (5G, 13A). Barbashev is one of two skaters — the other is Hunt — to have a five- game point streak this season. The streak spanned Oct. 29 to Nov. 9 and included 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points. Andrew Agozzino
- 3: Wolves forward Magnus Paajarvi assisted on all three of Chicago’s goals Tuesday night, which marked the first time in his 405-game North American career that he delivered 3 assists in the same game. The 25-year-old Norrkoping, Sweden, native has registered four games with at least 3 points for the Wolves. He posted a career-high 4 points (2G, 2A) in a 4-2 Wolves win on April 2, 2015, at Hamilton.
- 9: When defenseman Brad Hunt, and Magnus Paajarvi set up Kenny Agostino’s game-tying power-play goal with 1:41 left in regulation Tuesday night, it served as Hunt’s ninth power-play assist this season. That ties him for the American Hockey League lead with Toronto’s Brendan Leipsic. Hunt owns 18 points (5G, 13A) this season, which shares second place in the AHL with Rochester’s Cal O’Reilly. Leipsic leads the league with 19 points.
- 18: Wolves defenseman Brad Hunt registered two more points in last night’s 4-3 loss against the Charlotte Checkers to continue as the Wolves’ leading scorer and the league’s top-scoring blueliner. Near the midway point of the opening period, Hunt blasted a point shot that center Landon Ferraro redirected in front of the net to knot the game at one. In the final two minutes of play, Hunt helped Magnus Paajarvi set up Kenny Agostino for the Wolves’ marker that knotted the game 3-3. In 16 games this season, Hunt has only been held scoreless in four contests. He’s also one of two Wolves – the other is center Ivan Barbashev – to string together a five-game point streak. In games spanning Oct. 23 to Nov. 4, Hunt collected 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points. The 28-year-old has also had five multi-point showings this season.
- 198: Brad Hunt’s pair of assists Tuesday night gave him 198 points in 280 career AHL appearances. The three-time AHL All-Star has compiled 53 goals and 145 assists while playing for the Wolves (10 goals, 46 assists in 95 games), Oklahoma City Barons (30G, 71A in 128 games) and Bakersfield Condors (13G, 28A in 57 games).
Recent Games Recap
- The Wolves dropped the first of two games against the Checkers in Charlotte.
- Foward Magnus Paajarvi registered 3 assists and defensemen Brad Hunt added 2.
- Defenseman Morgan Ellis netted a goal along with forwards Kenny Agostino and Landon Ferraro.
- Goaltender Pheonix Copley made 24 saves in the loss.
- Chicago shut out Iowa; goaltender Pheonix Copley turned aside 20 shots for his first shutout of the year.
- Forward Bryce Gervais nabbed two goals, and Andrew Agozzino, Samuel Blais and Wade Megan each registered a goal.
- Wolves rookies — Samuel Blais (G, A), Conner Bleackley (A), Vince Dunn (A) and Gervais (2G) — accounted for 6 of the team’s 13 points.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Tuesday’s game begins at 6:00 p.m. Stream the game live on AHLLive.com
Join the conversation. Follow @Chicago_Wolves for live game updates.
