POWER SURGE

April 09, 2025

Welcome to Wolves Insider, presented by Are You Really Winning?: The weekly report that gives you an inside look at the latest Chicago Wolves news and happenings. Look for a new edition of Wolves Insider each week.

WOLVES’ POWER PLAY RED-HOT

That smoke seen billowing from opponents’ ends of the ice can be attributed to the Wolves’ scorching power play.

In their last seven games, the Wolves have scored a combined 12 goals with a man advantage in 29 power-play opportunities. The torrid stretch has vaulted Chicago into 17^th place in the American Hockey League’s power play rankings at 18.3 percent. Before the surge, the Wolves ranked 30^th on the power play with a 15.3 percent success rate.

“The guys have been working really hard on it all year and we felt in a lot of the games and a lot of the power-play sequences we there were opportunities for the puck to go across the line but it just didn’t go,” said Wolves assistant coach Dan Price, who is in charge of the power play. “We’d hit the post or the goalie would make a huge save, but I thought the guys really did a good job staying consistent with the process of it, the fundamentals of how you generate goals on the power play and it’s been working.”

In his first season with the Wolves, Price has spearheaded a power-play unit that is clicking at the right time. With five games remaining in the regular season, the Wolves are in a dogfight with the Grand Rapids Griffins for third place in the Central Division. A third-place finish would ensure the Wolves would avoid the play-in round and advance right to the Division Semifinals.

After a recent practice, Price broke down what makes for a successful power play.

“Puck movement and puck possession are huge,” Price said. “And there are some things that we do off the puck that are really important like you always want to try to end up outnumbering the other team around the net and you want to enter cleanly.

“More than anything, with all good power plays at this and the NHL level, the one thing across the board they all do really well is they recover the puck well,” Price continued. “You attack and if it doesn’t go in, it’s being able to recover it before the other team can exit. The guys take a lot of pride in that.”

Leading the way with a man advantage has been rookie sensation Bradly Nadeau. The 19-year-old forward has a combined four power-play goals in the last seven games and paces the Wolves with eight scores with an extra attacker.

Nadeau attributes the power play’s success with “we keep it simple.”

“We pass the puck around well and even off the rush on the power play we’ve scored a few,” added Nadeau, who has a team-leading 29 goals overall this season. “And when we’re in the offensive zone we take shots on net and lately they’ve been going in so we’ll keep doing that as a unit.”

Nadeau does much of his damage with his rocket of a one-timer from the left circle, but recently has been shifted all over the ice with the Wolves on a man advantage.

“Sometimes teams will kind of sit more on the flank and that’s when you have less time,” Nadeau said. “It’s good to kind of play all the other positions so if you happen to be in that one area when the puck comes your way you know what to do from that spot.”

Added Price: “Bradly has just really grown his game to be able to find the timing and the release for that one-timer. And he’s versatile, too. We’re able to move him around and get him to some other areas of the ice which frees him up in those other spots and then when he comes back there it can give him some time and space.”

Price was also quick to point out that the Wolves’ penalty kill—run by fellow assistant coach Spiros Anastas—has also been on fire. The Wolves have killed off 25 of the last 27 times they’ve been shorthanded and now rank 12^th in the league at 83.0 percent.

A DAZZLING DEBUT

After making his NHL debut with the Carolina Hurricanes last week, Justin Robidas has returned to the Wolves.

When the 22-year-old forward arrived at the Wolves practice facility last Thursday, head coach Cam Abbott delivered the news that Robidas was being called up by the Hurricanes. Robidas flew to Detroit that afternoon to join the Canes, who selected the Plano, Texas, native in the fifth round (147^th overall) in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

Robidas joined Wolves teammates Ryan Suzuki and Juha Jaaska in making their NHL debuts this season and recorded his first NHL point with an assist in 8 minutes, 14 seconds of ice time during the Canes’ 5-3 loss to the Red Wings on Friday night.

“It was fun to have my parents there—they’ve helped me a lot,” said Robidas, who is the son of former NHLer Stephane Robidas. “Having them there along with my best friend made for a really cool moment and something I’ll remember forever. I put a lot of hard work into it so it’s fun to be rewarded like that.”

The next night, Robidas scored his first NHL goal as Carolina fell to the Bruins in Boston.

“I kind of knew I had that in me,” Robidas said of reaching the NHL. “Points are points but regardless of them, I played pretty well and I was happy with my performances. I proved to myself that I can play with those guys and hopefully there are more games to come.”

Robidas, who has 17 goals and 31 assists in 65 games with the Wolves, was then reassigned to Chicago and is gearing up for the stretch run of the season followed by the playoffs.

“Right now, my focus is on coming down here and helping the team,” Robidas said. “We have five more games and then the playoffs. That’s the main goal right now but obviously in the near future hopefully I can have a long and nice career in the NHL.”

IMPACT PLAY OF THE WEEK

Late in the third period of Sunday’s game in Manitoba, forward Nick Swaney redirected a Ty Smith shot into the net to give the Wolves a 3-2 lead en route to their third victory in a row.

C.D.E. COLLISION CENTERS’ COLLISION OF THE WEEK

The Wolves’ Bradly Nadeau is known for his goal-scoring, but during Sunday’s game in Manitoba the 19-year-old rookie delivered this hit on the Moose’s Dominic Toninato to help the Wolves maintain pressure in the offensive zone.

SAVE OF THE WEEK

Wolves goaltender Dustin Tokarski came up with this sparkling save on the Moose’s Danny Zhilkin and then scrambled to prevent a rebound score during Saturday’s game in Manitoba.

HELPING OTHERS

The Wolves’ unwavering commitment to help those in need continues when they host the Wolves/Vitalant Blood Drive on Saturday, April 19 at Allstate Arena.

The drive will take place from 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. in the Allstate Arena Skyline Room prior to the Wolves’ regular-season finale against the Rockford IceHogs. Fans will have the perfect opportunity to help their community before enjoying a Central Division showdown between the Wolves and rival IceHogs.

All donors will receive two complimentary tickets to Opening Night of the 2025-26 season, a limited-edition Vitalant/Chicago Wolves T-shirt and a Wolves knit hat as well as being entered into a drawing to win an team-autographed Wolves jersey.

According to Vitalant, all blood types are needed 24/7, 365 days a year to provide patients in about 900 hospitals across the U.S. Donating blood supports those with sickle cell disease, cancer, anemia and other chronic illnesses.

While walk-ins are welcomed on the day of the event, the Wolves and Vitalant recommend that appointments be made in advance. Donors must be at least 17 years old—or 16 with parental consent.

Your donation helps maintain a stable blood supply to combat shortages and can make a profound difference in people’s lives. To schedule an appointment, visit Vitalant.org/Wolves.

Weekly rewind (2-0-0-0)

SATURDAY, APRIL 5

Wolves 4, Moose 3 (OT): Ty Smith scored the game-winner in overtime and had two assists in regulation, Bradly Nadeau had a goal and an assist and Domenick Fensore and Josiah Slavin also tallied to propel the Wolves to their fourth consecutive road triumph.

SUNDAY, APRIL 6

Wolves 3, Moose 2: Nick Swaney scored the game-winner with 55 seconds remaining in the third period and Domenick Fensore and Ryan Suzuki also had goals as the Wolves won their third in a row

First Star of the Week

Where we stand

35-28-4-0, third in the Central Division.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE