The Wolves’ 27th season begins!

February 01, 2021

Welcome to Wolves Insider: the report presented by Power Crunch that gives you a taste of all Chicago Wolves developments as the organization enters its 27th season.

THE WOLVES’ 27TH SEASON BEGINS

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and the safety protocols created to combat it, the Chicago Wolves and their fans have waited four long, extra months for hockey to return.

The Wolves finally get to play their regular-season opener at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, when they host the Grand Rapids Griffins. It’s normal for the Wolves and Griffins to face off in an opener: This marks the third time in the last five years they’ve met to start the season. But so much else will be different when the Wolves take the ice.

New head coach Ryan Warsofsky leads a team that will play its home games at Triphahn Center in Hoffman Estates, which has served as the Wolves’ first-class training facility since 2005. But this season — due to the fact Illinois Department of Public Health guidelines prohibit fans from attending games — marks the first time in franchise history the Wolves have played regular-season home games anywhere other than Allstate Arena.

Warsofsky and assistants Patrick Dwyer and Bob Nardella have been working overtime to blend the Carolina Hurricanes’ prospects with the Nashville Predators’ prospects. The Wolves planned to be partners solely with Carolina — the teams signed a three-year deal in September — but the Wolves added a one-year affiliation with Nashville in January once the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals weren’t able to play this season.

If Chicago’s lone exhibition game is any indication, the Wolves are going to flourish while mixing two prospect groups together. The Wolves reeled off six straight goals to knock off the Rockford IceHogs 6-1 Jan. 27 at Triphahn Center. Carolina’s prospects accounted for four goals while Nashville’s notched two.

HOW TO WATCH THE WOLVES THIS SEASON

All Wolves games during the 2021 season will be available exclusively on AHLTV. The league offers a wide variety of economical subscription packages — ranging from one-day to all-access for the whole season — but the price is just $34.99 to see all 30 Wolves games. Moreover, all games can be viewed on your schedule and can be revisited all season long. Visit AHLTV.com to sign up.

Wolves Season Ticket Members can get a much better deal by contacting their ticket representative or sending an email to [email protected].

GET YOUR PERSONALIZED WOLVES FAN CUTOUT!

Fans can’t attend Wolves home games this season, but that doesn’t mean their smiling faces can’t be inside Triphahn Center for every game! How do fans get inside the building? By joining the Chicago Wolves Fan Gallery, presented by Hefty, with a purchase of their own personalized cutout for just $50.

Each cutout will “attend” every home game. Then, at the end of the season, each cutout will be autographed and sent to you as a permanent souvenir of the 2020-21 season. To learn how to purchase a cutout and submit your picture, click here.

the first project thrive zoom session is thursday

The Wolves have joined forces with #SameHere Global Mental Health Movement founder Eric Kussin to change the conversation about mental health. Project Thrive features Zoom sessions created to help people interested in improving their mental health and well-being. To sign up for the first Zoom session at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, visit here.

Starting Feb. 4, the Wolves will host one-hour Zoom sessions every other Thursday night. Each session will be led by a national expert in integrative health, which is a 360-degree, patient-focused approach to health care and wellness. The topics include Sleep 101, Benefits of Connecting with Nature, Stress and Diet, and The Power of Being Active. You can also sign up by contacting Wolves Group Event Specialist Leslie Metcalf at [email protected].

TOP LINE

SETH JARVIS

The Carolina Hurricanes’ first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft celebrates his 19th birthday today. Jarvis ordinarily would be playing with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks now, but COVID-19 has the WHL on pause and that allows Jarvis to accelerate his development with the Wolves. He played in Wednesday’s exhibition and launched three shots.

DOMINIK BOKK

The St. Louis Blues’ first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft celebrates his 21st birthday Wednesday. He was traded to Carolina a year ago, which explains why the Schweinfurt, Germany, native will play with the Wolves this year. Bokk repped Germany in the recent World Junior Championships and produced a team-high six goals in seven games.

SEAN MALONE

This fourth-year pro from Buffalo is among the 13 players who have been loaned to the Wolves by the Nashville Predators as part of this season’s one-year affiliation. Malone, who spent the last three seasons with Rochester (AHL), led the Wolves with three points during Wednesday’s exhibition — including the game-winning goal.

 

REWIND (1-0-0-0)

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 27: (at) CHICAGO 6, ROCKFORD 1

• Rookie forward David Cotton scored two goals as part of a four-goal explosion in the third period as the Wolves won their lone preseason contest at Triphahn Center.
• Forwards Lukas Craggs and Jason Cotton also scored in the third while rookie Jamieson Rees opened the scoring in the second and forward Sean Malone (SHG) posted the game-winning goal.
• Goaltender Antoine Bibeau earned the win with 16 saves on 17 shots in the first two periods; Jeremy Helvig stopped all eight shots he saw in the third.

UPCOMING GAMES