The newest installment of the Chicago Wolves’ Your Favorite Number series, presented by Jewel-Osco, features a bunch of terrific point-producers. Good luck picking your favorite Wolves skater to wear No. 9!
Over the course of the organization’s first 26 years, most Wolves jersey numbers have been shared by several great players. To celebrate their brilliance — and to link them together in our memories — we are unveiling highlight reels of Wolves who wore the same jersey number and asking you to vote for your favorite.
This week’s video features four Wolves who excelled while wearing No. 9: Cory Larose, Riley Holzapfel, Shane Harper and Gage Quinney.
Larose joined the Wolves for the 2004-05 season and promptly became the No. 2 scorer on a squad that reached the Calder Cup Finals. The Campbellton, New Brunswick, native rolled up 26 goals and 37 assists during the regular season, then shared the team lead in postseason points with six goals and six assists in 18 games. After spending the next season playing in Switzerland, Larose returned to Chicago for the 2006-07 season and played a big role on the highest-scoring team in franchise history. He racked up 22 goals and 61 assists in the regular season and seven points (3G, 4A) in the postseason.
Holzapfel was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and made his professional debut with the Wolves at the age of 19 near the end of the 2007-08 regular season. In three full seasons with the squad, the Regina, Saskatchewan, native produced 32 goals and 50 assists in 202 regular-season games. Holzapfel spent the last seven seasons playing in Europe — and he averaged a point per game the last four years for Vienna in Austria’s top league.
Growing up in Southern California, Harper’s first hockey team included Paulina and Ty Gretzky — which helps to explain why Wayne Gretzky showed up at the party to celebrate Harper’s 7th birthday. Harper went on to become a sniper from the right wing and in 2014-15, he piled up 32 goals for the Wolves to rank third in the AHL (behind future Wolves Teemu Pulkkinen and Paul Thompson). Harper posted 45 goals and 38 assists in two seasons with the Wolves, then went on to play 14 games with the NHL’s Florida Panthers.
Quinney, a Las Vegas native, just wrapped up two terrific seasons for the Wolves. For the 2019 Calder Cup finalists, Quinney centered the ultra-productive line that featured AHL Most Valuable Player Daniel Carr and Brooks Macek. Last year, he developed into the team’s best player according to head coach Rocky Thompson. Quinney finished with 36 goals and 43 assists in 114 regular-season appearances for the Wolves. He also contributed four goals and five assists during the 2019 postseason, which included a pair of goals in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Finals.
To vote for your favorite Wolves player who has worn No. 9, visit one or more of the team’s social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) and make your opinion known!
If you missed any of the previous episodes, here they are:
Your Favorite Number 2
Your Favorite Number 3
Your Favorite Number 4
Your Favorite Number 5
Your Favorite Number 6
Your Favorite Number 7
Your Favorite Number 8