The Chicago Wolves announced Monday that forward Josh Leivo has been selected as the American Hockey League’s Player of the Month.
Leivo piled up a league-best 14 points (4G, 10A) in just six games for the Wolves in December to help Chicago post its first perfect record for a month (9-0-0-0) in the organization’s 28-year history.
The 28-year-old Innisfil, Ontario, native did all of his damage during a five-game stretch that began Dec. 5 when he fired a career-high 10 shots and produced one goal and one assist in a 4-0 win at Iowa. In his next game, Leivo delivered a career-high 5 points (2G, 3A) and a +4 plus/minus rating to highlight the Wolves’ 8-4 win Dec. 9 at Texas.
Leivo notched one assist Dec. 11 at Texas and three more assists Dec. 12 at Texas before capping his month with one of Chicago’s biggest highlights of the season. With the clock ticking, Leivo made a spectacular drive from the blue line to the net and scored with 1.1 seconds remaining to give the Wolves a 4-3 home win over the Manitoba Moose on Dec. 16.
The victory over the Moose marked the 10th in the Wolves’ current 12-game winning streak, which shares the franchise record with the 1999-2000 team that won the 2000 Turner Cup.
Leivo becomes the second Wolves player this season (joining Andrew Poturalski, who was honored in October) and the sixth in team history to earn the AHL’s Player of the Month award.
The AHL also honored Charlotte Checkers forward Cole Schwindt as the Rookie of the Month and Stockton Heat goaltender Dustin Wolf as the Goaltender of the Month.
The Central Division-leading Wolves go for their franchise-record 13th win in a row Friday at Rockford. The Wolves return to Allstate Arena this weekend when they host the Iowa Wild at 7 p.m. Saturday and the Cleveland Monsters at 3 p.m. Sunday. To get the best ticket deals, visit ChicagoWolves.com or contact a Wolves representative here.
