Your Favorite Number 28

March 03, 2021

When it comes to the Chicago Wolves and the No. 28 jerseys, sometimes it has belonged to forwards and other times to defensemen. But it always seems to belong to someone who makes a difference on the ice. That makes this for a great episode of the Your Favorite Number series, presented by Jewel-Osco.

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. 28: Bryan Little, Ryan Garbutt, Brent Regner and Jake Bischoff.

Little was selected with the 12th pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers — and he quickly proved to be a shrewd choice. At the age of 19, he joined the Wolves after wrapping up his junior career with the Barrie Colts and participated in two 2007 Calder Cup postseason games. The following season, when he was still 19, he broke camp with Atlanta and scored his first NHL goal in his debut on Oct. 5, 2007.

He proceeded to split the season between Atlanta and Chicago. He racked up nine goals and 16 assists in 34 regular-season games for the Wolves, then played in all 24 postseason games and delivered eight goals and four assists to help the Wolves hoist the 2008 Calder Cup. Since that time, he has played exclusively in the NHL and owns 217 goals and 304 assists in 843 regular-season games — all spent with the Thrashers-turned-Winnipeg Jets.

Unlike Little, Garbutt needed more time to climb the ladder. After four years at Brown University, Garbutt spent a year in the Central Hockey League and a month in the ECHL before making his Wolves (and AHL) debut on Nov. 10, 2010, at the age of 25. Based on his team-leading +27 plus/minus rating, Garbutt arguably became the most valuable player on the 2010-11 team. He finished with 19 goals, 18 assists and 118 penalty minutes in 65 games. One year later, Garbutt was in the NHL with the Dallas Stars. He wound up spending six seasons in the league and posted 38 goals and 49 assists in 305 games.

The Wolves acquired Regner in a trade with the Peoria Rivermen late in the 2012-13 season. It proved to be a wonderful deal for the team and for the Westlock, Alberta, native as the defenseman developed into the team captain as well as a two-time winner of the Tim Breslin Unsung Hero Award (2014 and 2015). Regner, who posted nine goals and 45 assists in 141 games with the Wolves, also continued to develop as a player and wound up earning seven games with the NHL’s Florida Panthers in 2015-16.

Speaking of Tim Breslin Unsung Hero Award winners, Bischoff became the latest honoree following the 2019-20 campaign. The Minnesota native did all of the gritty work during his three seasons on Chicago’s blue line as he was a master at blocking shots, breaking up rushes and making the right passes to get the puck moving the other way. Bischoff posted 12 goals and 33 assists in 181 regular-season games. He also handed out five assists while playing in all 22 postseason games during the run to the 2019 Calder Cup Finals. Oh, and he made his NHL debut last season with the Vegas Golden Knights.

To vote for your favorite Wolves player who wore No. 28, 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: