St. Patrick’s Day jerseys for Easterseals

March 07, 2022

Welcome to Wolves Insider, presented by Rivers Casino: the weekly report that gives you the latest Chicago Wolves news as the organization battles for its fifth division title in the last six years and its fifth league championship overall.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY JERSEYS FOR EASTERSEALS

There are many wonderful aspects to the Chicago Wolves’ commemorative St. Patrick’s Day jerseys, presented by Jewel-Osco, but let’s focus on one of the most simple to start:

Standout rookie center Jack Drury, who grew up in nearby Winnetka, recorded his first professional hat trick Sunday when the Wolves beat Iowa 5-3. And one lucky Wolves fan gets to win Drury’s game-worn, autographed St. Patrick’s Day jersey in the Wolves’ blind auction going on right now online here.

Drury’s jersey isn’t the only one available there: Goaltenders Alex Lyon, Eetu Makiniemi and Pyotr Kochetkov and defensemen Max Lajoie and Josh Jacobs have their jerseys there along with one for Skates and one team-autographed jersey. The bidding closes Monday, March 14, at noon.

But that’s not the only way to get your hands on one of these St. Patrick’s Day jerseys. The team’s silent auction began Sunday at Allstate Arena and resumes during the next home game on Sunday, March 13, against Grand Rapids. The silent auction goes until the end of the second intermission. To learn more, click here.

And here’s the best part of all: Proceeds benefit Easterseals and autism awareness along with Chicago Wolves Charities, driven by Kia. This marks the 22nd consecutive year the Wolves’ St. Patrick’s Day jerseys have been presented by Jewel-Osco with proceeds earmarked to help Easterseals’ outstanding work.

HOTTEST TEAM IN THE AHL

With six victories and one shootout loss to show for their last seven games, the Chicago Wolves own the longest active point streak in the league. The Wolves and Utica Comets are tied for the most wins (33) for the year and Chicago’s magic number to clinch a Calder Cup Playoff spot has plummeted to 24.

Because hockey magic numbers drop twice as fast as baseball magic numbers — what with 2 points being available to earn each game — the Wolves can clinch as soon as March 22.

PULASKI DAY DEAL

Chicago’s large Polish community isn’t the only one that loves Casimir Pulaski Day — and here’s one more reason for everyone to appreciate it: Today and Tuesday, you can celebrate Pulaski Day (and Wolves captain Andrew Poturalski) by grabbing a center-ice seat for any of the Wolves’ last four March home games for just $22!

Here’s how you do it: Go to Ticketmaster by clicking this LINK and use the code
POTURALSKI to claim your deal.

LYON ROARS BACK INTO TOWN

Alex Lyon, the AHL leader in goals-against average, has returned to Chicago after spending the weekend with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes on an emergency basis. Lyon, who owns a 14-6-2 record and 2.14 GAA in 23 games, was scratched from his Wolves start Saturday in order to provide backup for the Canes in Sunday’s win over the Seattle Kraken.

Lyon rejoins a talented goaltender room with rookies Pyotr Kochetkov, Jack LaFontaine and Eetu Makiniemi. The trio has combined to produce a 16-2-5 record with a 2.22 GAA and .915 save percentage in 25 appearances.

TOP LINE

JACK DRURY

The rookie center from Winnetka recorded his first hat trick as a professional Sunday to lead the Wolves to a 5-3 win over Iowa. Those three goals extended his point streak to 11 games, which is the longest active streak in the AHL and just two games from the league’s longest streak of the year overall. Drury owns 16 goals and 21 assists in 48 Wolves games this season.

STEFAN NOESEN

This 29-year-old standout from Plano, Texas, became the 23rd player in Wolves history to score 30 goals in a season when he produced Saturday’s game-winner in the third period against Texas. Noesen, who shares the AHL lead in goals, needed just 45 games to get to 30, which is the fastest for any Wolves player since Brett Sterling needed just 29 games in 2006-07.

MAX LAJOIE

The fourth-year pro has been flying up the scoring charts for the Wolves with 12 assists in his last 12 games. The 24-year-old defenseman from Quebec City has been particularly terrific over the last seven games as he has produced seven assists and a team-best +7 plus/minus rating to help the Wolves go 6-0-0-1 since Feb. 19. He owns 25 assists for the year.

 

REWIND (3-0-0-0)

SUNDAY, MARCH 6: (AT) CHICAGO 5, IOWA 3

• Iowa broke to a 2-0 lead, but Jack Drury’s first professional hat trick highlighted five consecutive Wolves goals that earned the team’s sixth win in the last seven games.
• Forwards Ryan Suzuki and Josh Leivo also scored goals while Andrew Poturalski, Stefan Noesen, Max Lajoie and Spencer Smallman handed out two assists apiece.
• Goaltender Jack LaFontaine posted 25 saves to earn the win.

SATURDAY, MARCH 5: (AT) CHICAGO 2, TEXAS 1

• Forward Stefan Noesen redirected a Spencer Smallman shot at 10:01 of the third period to give the Wolves their fifth win in their last six games.
  Forward David Gust scored in the second period to knot the score while rookie center Jack Drury extended his point streak to a team-high 10 games with an assist on Noesen’s GWG.
  Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 30 of 31 shots to improve to 3-0 in North America.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2: (AT) CHICAGO 5, TEXAS 3

• After Texas set a Wolves opponent’s record by scoring eight seconds into the night, five Wolves scored goals and seven others earned assists as Chicago rallied for the home win.
• Forwards Stefan Noesen, CJ Smith, Ryan Suzuki, Jack Drury and Maxim Letunov scored goals — with Drury’s shorthanded goal at 10:24 of the third holding up as the game-winner.
• Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov rejected 31 shots to pick up his second straight win.

NEXT FIVE GAMES

All games are streamed on AHLTV.