From Day 1, the No. 20 jersey has meant something special for the Chicago Wolves and their fans. This episode of the Your Favorite Number series, presented by Jewel-Osco, showcases four of our finest to wear No. 20.
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, we are creating highlight reels of Wolves who wore the same jersey number and asking you to vote for your favorite.
This week’s clips feature four Wolves who made a difference while wearing No. 20: Al Secord, Brian Maloney, Darren Haydar and Keegan Kolesar.
Between the time the Wolves announced their new franchise on Jan. 28, 1994, and played their first game on Oct. 1, they made a lot of great moves to build credibility with Chicago sports fans. Perhaps none was greater than signing the 36-year-old Secord to a contract on Sept. 13. He owned a great reputation after stacking up 273 goals and 222 assists in 12 NHL seasons — most of them spent with the Chicago Blackhawks. Secord delivered the same physical style and goal-scoring ability during his two seasons with the Wolves. He posted 21 goals and 28 assists in 106 regular-season games and appeared in all of the Wolves’ first 12 playoff games.
Maloney joined the Wolves at the end of the 2002-03 campaign and became the final player to wear No. 19. After Dan Snyder’s tragic death shortly before the start of the 2003-04 season, Maloney switched to No. 20 and delivered three strong seasons. The left wing from Bassano, Alberta, produced 32 goals, 39 assists and 363 penalty minutes in 214 regular-season games. He also played in all 18 postseason games during the Wolves’ run to the 2005 Calder Cup Finals. Maloney continued to play professionally through the 2013-14 season — enjoying a long, successful run in Europe.
In 2006-07, No. 20 was handed to Haydar, who had tormented the Wolves for the previous four years while playing for the Milwaukee Admirals. As great as Haydar was for Milwaukee, he immediately kicked it up a notch in Chicago. He scored at least one point in each of his first 39 games — setting the American Hockey League record and tying Wayne Gretzky for the fourth-longest point streak in professional hockey history — and went on to capture the 2007 AHL MVP award with 41 goals and 81 assists in 73 games.
The following year, Haydar captained the Wolves to the 2008 Calder Cup championship as he piled up 12 goals and 15 assists in 24 postseason games. Haydar spent three more seasons with the Wolves — 2010-11 through 2012-13 — and finished his five-year run with 128 goals and 240 assists in 342 games. He ranks third on the Wolves’ all-time scoring list with 368 points. He stands as the AHL’s all-time leader in postseason goals (63) and points (143) and was inducted into the AHL’s Hall of Fame in 2020.
Kolesar just wrapped up three strong seasons in a Wolves uniform. He joined the franchise in 2017-18 as a 20-year-old straight out of the Western Hockey League and grew his game to the point where he earned his NHL debut for the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 11, 2020. His finest season for the Wolves came in 2018-19, when the Brandon, Manitoba, native racked up 20 goals during the regular season and added six more during the playoffs as the Wolves raced to the 2019 Calder Cup Finals. Kolesar finished his Wolves run with 28 goals and 39 assists in 151 regular-season games.
To vote for your favorite Wolves player who wore No. 20, 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
Your Favorite Number 9
Your Favorite Number 10
Your Favorite Number 12
Your Favorite Number 13
Your Favorite Number 14
Your Favorite Number 15
Your Favorite Number 16
Your Favorite Number 17
Your Favorite Number 18
Your Favorite Number 19
