Welcome to the final edition of Wolves Insider for the 2024-25 season, presented by Are You Really Winning? The weekly report that gives you an inside look at the latest Chicago Wolves news and happenings.
A CONVERSATION WITH CAM ABBOTT
Following the Wolves’ 5-0 loss to the Rockford IceHogs in Game 2 of the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs on Friday night that ended Chicago’s season, first-year head coach Cam Abbott sat down for a quick Q&A to recap the ’24-25 campaign and discuss what lies ahead.
How would you describe the Wolves’ season as a whole?
“It’s been a real journey, especially considering we had a lot of new faces, including myself and our whole staff. Most of the players had never played together prior to the first game of the year.
I’m proud of the growth of the team and the way the guys have gone about their business every day with the mindset of competing and being proud of putting this Wolves jersey on.
It’s a proud organization with a rich history and our goal from the start was to make sure that we lived up to that jersey guys were pulling on.”
What identity did the team eventually take on?
“We had our ups and downs. We were a very streaky team. I don’t think at times that’s particularly helpful for stability. Overall, we found our way at times to dig out of some of those losing streaks and turn things around to find ourselves in meaningful ways.
If anything, it’s a floor. It’s a bar that’s been set and the expectations will be higher for us as we do the postmortem on this season and for what lies ahead.”
All season you talked about the balance between developing players and winning hockey games. In the end, how did that work out?
“Sometimes those two things are at odds a little bit so it is challenging. I feel like we struck the right balance and one which was in line with how this league is in general. There are various levels of teams that have prospects and some who are a little bit older. Through the course of the season, we played a young roster on the majority of nights and that was fun. It gave guys a chance to learn and gain experience and we should be stronger for it.”
What lessons did you learn during your first season coaching in the American Hockey League?
“I really try to have a growth mindset, which means you need to have confidence. I’ve coached at a high level elsewhere (in Europe) and I can bring that knowledge and experience to this team and also the humility to know that there’s an awful lot that I’m learning for the first time here in the American League and try to make sure that I’m staying curious to how I can improve and be better for this group of men and for this organization.”
What do the next few weeks look like for you?
“I have some time to reflect in the coming days and weeks on how things can be better for next year. Just like the players, we’re trying to progress as a coaching staff and find those improvements so that we can help this team take the next step.”
PAVLYCHEV ‘proud of how far i’ve come along’
Perhaps no Wolves player experienced more growth in his game during the 2024-25 season than Nikita Pavlychev.
The 28-year-old center went from being a frequent healthy scratch during the early stages of the campaign to appearing in each of the Wolves’ final 58 regular-season games.
Pavlychev’s emergence as one of the Wolves’ most reliable players coincided with the Yaroslavl, Russia, native’s decision to begin seeing Mental Performance Coach Ralph Pim.
“The biggest change for me was the mental side of the game,” Pavlychev said. “I’ve been working on bringing positive energy to the rink every day regardless of what cards I’m being dealt.”
After not recording a point in his first five games of the season and often finding himself out of the Wolves lineup, Pavlychev finished with four goals—including a game-winner—21 assists and 62 penalty minutes in 63 contests.
“I had a lot of help behind me with the coaching staff, with my family and with Ralph Pim,” said Pavlychev, who was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the seventh round (197th overall) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. “Everyone has to mature a little bit and learn for themselves and Ralph helped me get to where I am now.
“We started working together early in the season and ever since we’ve been together, and it’s been very, very helpful and huge for me to improve my game,” Pavlychev continued. “I’m proud of how far I’ve come along and I’m looking forward to building more on it.”
IMPACT PLAY OF THE WEEK
The Wolves’ offense was stymied during the first round of the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs against the Rockford IceHogs, but Juha Jaaska delivered this goal while on the power play in Game 1 on Wednesday night at Allstate Arena.
C.D.E. COLLISION CENTERS’ COLLISION OF THE WEEK
Charles-Alexis Legault and Juha Jaaska of the Wolves combined forces to crunch the Rockford IceHogs’ Aidan Thompson during Game 1 on Wednesday night.
SAVE OF THE WEEK
With the score knotted at 1-1 between the Wolves and Rockford in Game 1 on Wednesday night, Chicago netminder Spencer Martin made this spectacular save on the IceHogs’ Zach Sanford.
Weekly rewind (0-2)
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23
IceHogs 2, Wolves 1 (OT): Juha Jaaska had a goal for the Wolves but Artyom Levshunov scored the winner in overtime to give the IceHogs the victory.
FRIDAY, APRIL 25
IceHogs 5, Wolves 0: The Wolves were unable to solve IceHogs goaltender Drew Commesso (34 saves) and Rockford got two goals from Gerry Mayhew to sweep the best-of-three Central Division First Round series.
First Star of the Week
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JUHA JAASKA, FThe 27-year-old from Helsinki, Finland, scored the only goal–and it was on the power play–for the Wolves during their two postseason games against the Rockford IceHogs. During the regular season, Jaaska finished with 12 goals–including two game-winners–and 21 assists in 53 games. |
2025-26 SEASON
Season tickets for the Wolves’ ’25-26 season are on sale now. Place a deposit today and a Wolves ticket representative will follow up to choose your very own seat location!
