‘This is what you play for’

April 23, 2025

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WOLVES SET TO EMBARK ON POSTSEASON RUN

For the first time since capturing the 2022 Calder Cup championship, the Wolves are ready to take the ice for a postseason contest.

On Wednesday night, the Wolves will face off against the Rockford IceHogs at Allstate Arena in Game 1 of the Central Division First Round with Chicago intent on making a deep run in the playoffs.

“This is what you play for,” forward Noel Gunler said. “We’ve shown all year that we can play with every team. When we’re on top of our game we’re hard to beat. We just have to find that every night. Just take it game by game and I think we can have a good run.”

The Wolves finished fourth in the Central with a record of 37-31-4-0, eight points clear of the fifth-place IceHogs (31-33-6-2). Chicago was vying to catch the Grand Rapids Griffins for third place in the division, which would have meant avoiding the three-game first round and advancing to the Central semifinals, but fell two points short. Still, a 5-3-0-0 record in the month of April, when games were of the utmost importance, proved the Wolves have ramped their game up a notch.

“I have all the confidence in our team,” goaltender Spencer Martin said. “It’s hard to understand sometimes the ups and downs of the season, especially in the AHL when you have lineups that change and you find different grooves, but playing those really important games down the stretch I think prepared us. That’s what I’m seeing out there.”

Having played 12 times during the regular season—with the Wolves winning nine of them—there will be few surprises when the teams face off.

“We get to know everybody in our division really well throughout the season,” Martin said. “They know us, too, so it’s just about who is going to bring it. We have a really good coaching staff that has helped prepare us the last few days. The fun is about to start.”

Wolves players wouldn’t mind if future opponents saw their fourth-place finish in the Central and decided to take them lightly.

“We believe in our locker room and that’s all that matters,” defenseman Ty Smith said. “We play hard. We play the right way. You never know what can happen.”

‘A DREAM COME TRUE’ for skyler brind’amour

The Wolves have a full contingent of players ready to battle the IceHogs in Game 1 on Wednesday night.

Included in the group is Skyler Brind’Amour, who along with Domenick Fensore and Bradly Nadeau, was a recent call-up to the Carolina Hurricanes. The trio saw their first NHL action this season, with Fensore and Brind’Amour making their debuts at the highest level of the sport.

When they returned to the Wolves for the final game of the regular season, Brind’Amour carried the experience of scoring his first NHL goal along with him. The 25-year-old found the back of the net during the Canes’ game against the Senators in Ottawa last Thursday.

“It was a dream come true to be able to do that,” Brind’Amour said of playing in the NHL. “It’s a step up and everything is kind of magnified a little bit with mistakes so it was a great learning experience and I had a lot of fun.”

The two-game stint helped prove to Brind’Amour and others around the sport that the Raleigh, N.C., native can play at that level.

“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “It’s a you-never-really-know-until-you-know-type of thing. It was a good couple of games. There is a long way to go as well as far as improvement and things like that, but it’s good to have that understanding of exactly what you need. I look forward to working on those things now and in the summer when we’re training.”

In typical Brind’Amour fashion, the goal against the Senators came while he crashed the net and knocked in a rebound while in the crease.

“Not too pretty—there haven’t been too many pretty goals for me this year,” Brind’Amour, who scored 16 goals for the Wolves this season, said. “But at the end of the day, I don’t think it really matters as long as you’re putting them in. It’s how I play: Just get to the net and try to bang home a couple.”

Making the goal-scoring moment even more special is the fact that Brind’Amour potted it in front of his father, Rod, who is a former NHL standout and the current head coach of the Hurricanes. What did his dad say to him on the bench after the goal?

“He said, ‘congrats, now you’re even,” Skyler said. “Because an earlier goal was partly my fault so he went right to coach-talk. That’s the way it is up there. You make a mistake and it’s in the back of your net.

“But it was cool,” he continued. “It’s a unique situation but it was a lot of fun and cool to be able to share that experience.”

IMPACT PLAY OF THE WEEK

Bradly Nadeau led the Wolves with 32 goals this season, including this one-timer on the power play during Saturday night’s contest against the Rockford IceHogs at Allstate Arena.

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

On Friday night in Milwaukee, Wolves forward Dominic Franco drilled the Admirals’ Chase De Leo with this open-ice hit just seconds into the first period.

SAVE OF THE WEEK

Wolves goaltender Spencer Martin made this spectacular stop on the Rockford IceHogs’ Kevin Korchinski during the second period of Saturday night’s game at Allstate Arena. Martin went on to make 27 saves en route to his third shutout of the season.

Weekly rewind (2-1-0-0)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16

Wolves 3, Wild 1: Justin Robidas and Ryan Suzuki each had a goal and an assist and Noel Gunler also scored to lift the Wolves.

FRIDAY, APRIL 18

Admirals 5, Wolves 0: The Wolves weren’t able to solve Admirals netminder Matthew Murray, who made 14 saves in recording his fourth shutout of the season.

SATURDAY, APRIL 19

Wolves 5, IceHogs 0: Bradly Nadeau (two goals), Justin Robidas (goal, three assists) and Juha Jaaska (goal, assist) led the way offensively for the Wolves while netminder Spencer Martin made 27 saves for his third shutout of the season. Josiah Slavin also scored and Ty Smith chipped in two assists.

First Star of the Week

Where we FINISHED

37-31-4-0, fourth in the Central Division.

central division first round