Wendell Young General Manager
Wendell Young has completed nine seasons as the Chicago Wolves general manager. Since being hired as GM in August 2009, the Wolves have compiled a .596 winning percentage during the regular season and captured five division titles: the 2010 West, 2012 Midwest, 2014 Midwest, 2017 Central and 2018 Central.
Young has been a member of the Wolves organization in virtually every capacity — including player, coach, and executive — since the team’s inaugural campaign in 1994. He served as assistant coach and executive director of team relations for six seasons before transitioning into the general manager role.
The 54-year-old stands as the Wolves’ all-time leader among goaltenders in games (322), wins (169), saves (8,467), minutes (17,912), and shutouts (16), and was a member of Chicago’s 1998 and 2000 Turner Cup championship squads. His jersey number “1” was retired on Dec. 1, 2001 — becoming the first Wolves player to receive the honor.
The Halifax, Nova Scotia, native, who was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 2007, is the only man in hockey history to have won all four North American championships: the Stanley Cup, Turner Cup, Calder Cup, and Memorial Cup. He captured the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992 as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 1988 Calder Cup with the Hershey Bears, the 1982 Memorial Cup with the Kitchener Rangers, and the 1998 and 2000 Turner Cups with the Wolves. He also was behind the bench as a coach for the Wolves’ 2008 Calder Cup victory.
Young played 18 seasons of professional hockey, including 10 in the National Hockey League. He compiled a 59-86-12 record in 187 games with the Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Penguins. He also served as goaltending coach for the Calgary Flames from 2001-03.
Young and his wife, Paula, reside in the northwest suburbs and have one daughter, Gabrielle, and two sons, Matt and Jack.
Bill Bentley Assistant General Manager
Bill Bentley has served as the Chicago Wolves assistant general manager for the last nine seasons and stands as one of a handful of people who has been with the organization since the team’s inception in 1994.
Bentley has been instrumental in the hockey operations department for more than 15 years, which includes all four seasons that ended with a championship.
The Chicago native joined the organization as a statistician in 1994 and was promoted to team services manager a year later. The 48-year-old spent 12 seasons as the director of hockey administration — handling team travel, immigration, and accounting for the hockey operations department — before assuming the assistant general manager role in August 2009.
A graduate of Quincy College, Bentley served as the Director of Media Relations for the Chicago Cheetahs of the now-defunct Roller Hockey International during the 1993-94 season.
Bentley and his wife, Jennifer, live in Chicago.
Gene Ubriaco Senior Advisor/Director of Hockey Operations
Gene Ubriaco, who has been with the Wolves since the franchise’s inception in 1994, has served for 21 seasons as the team’s director of hockey operations and nine as senior advisor.
Ubriaco served as the Wolves’ first head coach and guided the expansion team to a 34-33-14 record and a berth in the 1995 Turner Cup playoffs. He compiled a 61-61-20 record with the Wolves during a three-year span, which included a two-game interim stint during the 1996-97 season.
“Ubie” began his coaching career at Lake Superior State University in 1972-73. Four years later, he led the Milwaukee Admirals to the Turner Cup playoffs to become the first International Hockey League coach to lead an expansion team into the postseason.
In 1988-89, Ubriaco moved on to the National Hockey League to coach the Pittsburgh Penguins. Under his tutelage, the Penguins shattered several team records and advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after a seven-year absence. He posted a 50-47-9 record with Pittsburgh. Ubriaco gained international coaching experience by heading up the Italian Olympic Team during the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France.
During his 26 years as a coach in the professional ranks, Ubriaco was honored as Coach of the Year in the United States Hockey League (1973-74), Eastern Hockey League (1979-80), Central Hockey League (1982-83), and American Hockey League (1983-84).
The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, native also played professional hockey for 10 years. He recorded 162 goals, 258 assists, and 420 points in 456 AHL games spanning nine seasons, which included a career-high 42 goals and 86 points during the 1965-66 season with the Hershey Bears.
Ubriaco spent his final three years as a player in the NHL with the Penguins (1967-68), the Oakland Seals (1968-69) and the Chicago Blackhawks (1969-70). He posted 39 goals, 35 assists, and 74 points in 177 regular-season games.
He dedicates himself to numerous charitable causes, including the American Hearing Impaired Hockey Association with which he has been involved since 1974. Ubriaco and his wife, Nella, have a daughter, Francine, and a son, Gene, and live in the western suburbs.
Norine Gillner Hockey Operations Assistant
Norine Gillner has completed 23 seasons in the Chicago Wolves’ hockey operations department.
Gillner joined the club in September 1995 as the hockey operations assistant. She works at the Hoffman Estates practice facility and assists with all aspects of the hockey operations department.
Gillner resides in Chicago with her daughters, Michaela and Meaghan, and son, Carl.
nagillner@chicagowolves.com
Mike Nardella Hockey Operations
Mike Nardella has been a Chicago hockey institution since the 1930s, when he was caught pilfering some sticks during a Black Hawks game and forced to perform restitution by working for the team’s equipment manager.
Hired as the Wolves hockey operations advisor upon the team’s inception in 1994, Nardella has helped the franchise in numerous ways over the years. Among other projects, Nardella worked with Mayor Richard M. Daley to have championship banners placed at City Hall and O’Hare Airport after the Wolves won their first Turner Cup in 1998.
Nardella earned a Purple Heart while serving in Patton’s Third Army during World War II. He was part of the mechanized cavalry, which served as the advance group that defused and secured bridges to help Patton’s men march through Europe. As part of his tour of duty, Nardella landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day Plus 15.
