Of the nearly 700 players who have donned a Chicago Wolves sweater since 1994, only four grew up in Alaska. One of those four ranks No. 21 on the Chicago Wolves Top 40 Countdown, presented by Jewel-Osco.
Joey Crabb joined the Wolves straight out of Colorado College prior to the 2006-07 season. While one of his Colorado College teammates, Brett Sterling, made a bigger splash, Crabb also became a crucial component of the next four Wolves seasons.
Crabb scored 22 points in 63 games during his rookie year, then notched nine goals and 26 assists during the 2007-08 regular season. He added one goal and four assists during the postseason as he played in all 24 games to help the Wolves capture the 2008 Calder Cup championship.
The following year, Crabb split his time between the Wolves and the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers. He posted 15 goals in 42 Wolves appearances and four goals in 29 Thrashers games while playing for former Wolves head coach John Anderson.
Crabb capped his Wolves run with a career-high 24 goals and 29 assists for the 2010 West Division champions. He wound up with 55 goals and 84 assists in 256 regular-season games — and his 139 points rank 19th on the Wolves’ all-time list.
The Anchorage native went on to enjoy six more seasons of professional hockey, which included an 11-goal, 15-assist campaign for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2011-12. He finished with 20 goals and 33 assists in 179 NHL appearances.
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
No. 26: Pat Cannone
No. 25: Brian Wiseman
No. 24: Colin Stuart
No. 23: Brian Noonan
No. 22: Tim Bergland
