The player who ranks No. 26 on the Chicago Wolves Top 40 countdown, presented by Jewel-Osco, capped his three-year run with the franchise as the captain and the team’s leading scorer.
Pat Cannone grew up on Long Island and spent four years playing for Miami (Ohio) University. Upon graduation, Cannone joined the AHL’s Binghamton Senators and produced 30 goals in two-plus seasons with the squad.
The Wolves liked the way “Pistol Pat” competed at both ends of the ice and worked with the St. Louis Blues to sign him for the 2013-14 campaign. In his first season with the Wolves, Cannone centered the third line and put up 16 goals, 18 assists and a team-high +24 plus-minus rating to help Chicago win the 2014 Midwest Division title.
In 2014-15, Cannone paced the Wolves with 33 assists and ranked second with 47 points for a squad that pushed eventual Calder Cup finalists Utica to the brink in the first round.
For 2015-16, head coach John Anderson named Cannone as the captain. He led to the team to an 8-1-0-1 start, but multiple injuries soon erased the team’s depth. Nonetheless, Cannone led the squad in points (52) and assists (32) while ranking second with 20 goals.
He earned a spot in the AHL All-Star Challenge and scored three goals to lead the Central Division to the title — which earned Cannone Most Valuable Player honors. Near season’s end, Cannone received the Wolves’ Dan Snyder Man of the Year Award and was a finalist for the AHL’s Yanick Dupre Man of the Year honor.
The following year, Cannone earned a three-game stint with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild as part of a two-year tenure with the AHL’s Iowa Wild. He moved on to Germany for two years, but returned to the States and joined the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies for the 2020-21 season.
Want to enjoy more of the countdown?
No. 40: Gage Quinney
No. 39: Tim Breslin
No. 38: Nathan Oystrick
No. 37: Ben Simon
No. 36: Curtis McKenzie
No. 35: Kamil Piros
No. 34: Mark Mancari
No. 33: Simon Gamache
No. 32: Guy Larose
No. 31: Wade Megan
No. 30: Shane Harper
No. 29: Michael Davies
No. 28: Karl Stewart
No. 27: Cory Larose