FAST STARTS, STRONG FINISHES

January 07, 2026

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 SOLID EARLY AND LATE IN GAMES

There are two key elements to the Wolves’ game that have helped spark their climb up the Central Division standings.

The Wolves are among the best at starting fast and then locking things down in the third period of contests.

Of their 14 wins thus far this season, the Wolves have opened the scoring in 11 of them and are one of just three American Hockey League teams—along with Grand Rapids and Lehigh Valley—without a regulation loss after finding the back of the net first.

“It’s a real benefit to score the first goal because it gives everyone a confidence boost,” Wolves interim head coach Spiros Anastas said. “You feel like you have that leverage the rest of the game. It causes the other team to adjust and maybe start playing differently and start taking more risks. It definitely changes the psychology of the game if you’re not chasing it early.”

The Wolves, who are 14-8-4-4 overall and stand in second place in the Central, sport an 11-0-2-1 mark when scoring first.

“It just gives you a little bit of confidence to play with,” Wolves captain Josiah Slavin said. “You go into a game and it’s a 50-50 battle and then once you get that little slight edge, you can step on guys’ throats or if you end up being the one scored on you can end up not having a good game.”

Anastas said that when addressing the team before it takes the ice he doesn’t put particular emphasis on notching the first goal, but rather sticking to the system and playing a solid team game. If that happens, the goals should come.

“Our messaging going into a game is always establishing ourselves in the first 10 minutes,” Anastas said. “It’s doing the things that are required to get that O-zone possession time, which eventually ends up in scoring goals.

“But we try not to focus just on the result, we focus on the process,” he continued. “For instance, we talk about our retrievals, we talk about our high confrontations on exits and we talk about our transition play. You’re trying not to put the pressure on scoring a goal because then you’re results-oriented. But if you focus on the process early you should be able to get on top.”

Meanwhile, the Wolves go into lockdown in third periods, with 21 goals allowed in the final period tied with Providence for second-fewest in the league (Grand Rapids has allowed 19).

What’s the secret to that success?

“We wear teams down,” Slavin said. “When we play our game we make (opponents) play a 200-foot game and make them go back for pucks all night. We’re more conditioned than a lot of teams so we just wear them down the first couple of periods based on our style of play and it’s hard for teams to come back on us.”

Anastas singled out the play of goaltenders Cayden Primeau and Amir Miftakhov as a major factor in the third-period stinginess along with the cohesiveness of the defense group.

“When you get into the third period and you’re up by a goal, that’s when guys really dial in to each other,” Anastas said. “Especially as of late, we’ve really focused on our low-D zone coverage and that changes your pressure points a little bit. Your neutral zone forecheck changes and your pressure on the forecheck changes, where you start to clog things up a little bit more. Our team does a really good job of making those adjustments at that time of the game.”

GUNLER’S GOAL: SCORE MORE OF THEM

Throughout the first half of the season, Noel Gunler has been satisfied with doing the little things to help keep the Wolves’ offense clicking.

That includes setting up teammates for scoring opportunities and playing a responsible game at both ends of the ice. What would be nice for the Lulea, Sweden, native, however, is if it were Gunler raising his stick in celebration after finding the back of the net.

While that has been a work-in-progress—the 24-year-old forward has three goals in 29 games this season—Gunler has of late been focusing on creating more chances for himself. In the last four games, Gunler has 11 shots on goal, including a season-high five against the Griffins last Friday night in Grand Rapids.

“The last few games I’ve been having some good chances and shooting the puck more,” said Gunler, who ranks fifth on the Wolves with 11 assists. “I’ve had a lot of good games when the puck hasn’t gone in. That’s something I can build on and not pass as much as I’ve been doing.”

Coming off a career-high 13 goals in 58 contests last season, Gunler is determined to kick the goal-scoring into high gear.

“I’ve been doing good stuff and still contributing offensively even though my goals haven’t come,” Gunler said. “But I for sure want to score goals.”

 

IMPACT NETWORKING PLAY OF THE WEEK

During the second period of Saturday night’s game against the Grand Rapids Griffins at Allstate Arena, Wolves defenseman Domenick Fensore recorded his fifth goal of the season with this blistering point shot.

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

During the second period of Friday night’s tilt in Grand Rapids, Wolves forward Bradly Nadeau finished his check on the Griffins’ William Lagesson.

SAVE OF THE WEEK

Late in the second period of Wednesday’s contest in Rockford, Wolves netminder Cayden Primeau denied the IceHogs’ Kevin Lombardi’s breakaway chance with a sprawling blocker save.

fight against cancer jersey auction & raffle

Wolves players will wear exclusive Fight Against Cancer jerseys, presented by Campfire Marshmallows, when they host the Texas Stars and Manitoba Moose on Saturday, Jan. 10 and Sunday, Jan. 11.

These commemorative jerseys will be available to own through a variety of initiatives with proceeds benefiting A Silver Lining Foundation, Bear Necessities, Imerman Angels and Chicago Wolves Charities, driven by Kia.

“It’s super important,” Wolves forward Justin Robidas said. “There are a lot of people who are affected by cancer. I’ve had people in my family affected by cancer. It’s a tough battle for them and their families. If there’s anything we can do to support them and their family it’s important to help them out.”

Wolves players Domenick Fensore, Ryan Suzuki, Josiah Slavin, Amir Miftakhov, Juha Jaaska, Nikita Quapp as well as mascot, Skates, will have two game-issued jerseys for the games, which they will don if they are playing. Wearing multiple jerseys enables the Wolves and their fans to maximize their support of these important charities and their invaluable work.

Click the links below to place your blind and silent auction bids:

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Weekly rewind (1-1-0-1)

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 31

Wolves 3, IceHogs 2: The Wolves wrapped up the 2025 portion of the 2025-26 American Hockey League season by defeating the IceHogs in Rockford. Justin Robidas had a goal and two assists while Ryan Suzuki and Bradly Nadeau each scored and added a helper to propel the Wolves to the win.

FRIDAY, JAN. 2

Griffins 3, Wolves 2 (SO): In a battle between the two top teams in the Central Division, Noel Gunler and Justin Robidas each scored in regulation to help the Wolves extend their points streak to a season-long nine games, but Chicago fell in the shootout in the first of back-to-back showdowns between the teams.

SATURDAY, JAN. 3

Griffins 4, Wolves 1: The Wolves had their nine-game points streak snapped when they fell to the Griffins at Allstate Arena. Domenick Fensore scored for the Wolves but Grand Rapids remained red-hot and ran its points streak to 18 contests.

First Star of the Week

Where we stand

14-8-4-4, second in the Central Division.

For information on Wolves ticket plans for the 2025-26 season—everything from single-game tickets to Flex Packs to group outings—visit ChicagoWolves.com or call 1-800-THE-WOLVES.