MILWAUKEE — The Chicago Wolves returned to the ice when they faced the Milwaukee Admirals in the first of back-to-back exhibition games between the teams in preparation for the 2023-24 American Hockey League season.
Playing with a lineup comprised mostly of training camp invitees, the Wolves fell 5-0 to the Admirals on Friday night at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
“Our guys haven’t had any games in the past few weeks and Milwaukee pretty much had their whole lineup in rookie or NHL camps and it showed,” Wolves coach Bob Nardella said. “We didn’t have our legs; we didn’t have that energy but our guys hung in and battled.”
In the opening period, Milwaukee got goals from Joakim Kemell and Reid Schaefer and never looked back to earn the victory.
Egor Afanasyev’s score late in the second upped Milwaukee’s lead to three goals and Tye Felhaber and Carson Gicewicz tallied in the third for the final margin.
Julian Junca (33 saves) suffered the loss in goal for the Wolves while Admirals netminders Yaroslav Askarov and Troy Grosenick combined for 22 saves for the win.
Next up: The Wolves host the Admirals in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. on Saturday night at the Triphahn Community Center & Ice Arena in Hoffman Estates.
The Wolves open their historic 30th season when they host Milwaukee at 7 p.m. on Oct. 14 at Allstate Arena.
For information on Wolves ticket plans for the 2023-24 season—everything from single-game tickets to Flex Packs to group outings—visit chicagowolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.
