Wolves Weekly Notes
October 6, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Chicago Wolves News Release
GRAN-D OPENING
Head Coach Don Granato makes his Wolves debut when the club opens up the season in Houston on Saturday. The Downers Grove native was last behind the bench during the 2005-06 season as an assistant coach with the NHL's St. Louis Blues.
WOLVES HEADLINES
--- STEVE MARTINS: Shared third on the Wolves with 40 assists and sixth with 57 points in 76 matchups last season ... Tallied nine points (2G, 7A) and 30 penalty minutes in 22 postseason outings to earn his second league title with Chicago (1998 Turner Cup, 2008 Calder Cup) ... Ranks 10th all-time in franchise history with 107 assists and shares 12th with 160 points in 207 games in a Wolves sweater.
--- JEFF HAMILTON: Posted nine goals, 15 assists and 24 points in 58 games with the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes and nine points (3G, 6A) in nine AHL matchups with the Albany River Rats last year ... Spent the 2006-07 campaign with the Chicago Blackhawks, notching 18 goals and 39 points in 70 games ... Registered 29 goals, 42 assists and 71 points in 142 career NHL matchups with the New York Islanders, Blackhawks and Hurricanes, spanning four seasons (2003-04, 2005-08)
--- JOE MOTZKO: Ranked third on the Wolves and 14th in the American Hockey League with a career-high 70 points in 72 regular-season games last season, which includes 21 goals and 48 points in 44 games with the Hershey Bears ... Registered NHL career-highs with two goals and four points in eight games with the Washington Capitals ... Ranked fourth on the Wolves with a postseason career-high nine assists and sixth with 11 points in 16 Calder Cup playoff games ... Was a member of the 2007 Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks and 2008 Calder Cup Champion Wolves
--- ARTURS KULDA: Posted one assist, 10 penalty minutes and a +3 plus/minus rating in five regular-season outings and six points (G, 5A) and 32 penalty minutes in 22 postseason games during his professional debut with the Wolves last season ... Led Peterborough (OHL) with a +9 plus/minus rating and ranked second among team defensemen with seven goals, 27 assists and 34 points in 55 regular-season games
WOLF TRACKS
--- Last season, the Wolves captured their second Calder Cup Championship and fourth league title in 11 years,defeating the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 4-games-to-2 in the Finals. Chicago also won the Calder Cup in 2002, and the International Hockey League's Turner Cup in 1998 and 2000.
--- Chicago won the West Division crown for the second time in club history and finished the regular season atop the Western Conference with 111 points (53-22-2-3); The Wolves' .694 winning percentage was one point shy of matching the 1999-2000 team's franchise best .695 mark.
--- Former head coach JOHN ANDERSON was named to the same position with the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers in June. He departed the Wolves as the winningest coach in franchise history, racking up 506 victories in 808 regular season contests.
--- Chicago netted a league-high 300 goals last season (3.75 per game) after leading the AHL with a franchise-record 331 tallies (4.14 per game) in 2006-07.
--- The Wolves led the circuit with 107 power-play markers and shared third in the league on the power-play at 20.8 percent (107 of 514) last season
CLOSE SHAVE
--- Play-by-Play announcer JASON SHAVER makes his Wolves debut on Sat., Oct. 11. The 35-year-old announcer joins color analyst BILL GARDNER in the booth to broadcast every regular-season game - including all 40 home contests - as well as every playoff game, live on Comcast Cable.
WOLVES PRESEASON REWIND (0-2-0-0)
Sat., Oct. 4
(at) Milwaukee 5, Chicago 1
--- Chicago fell behind early and never recovered, suffering a 5-1 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals in their final preseason game at the Milwaukee School of Engineering's Kern Center
--- Forward JEFF PROUGH potted the lone tally for Chicago, while left wing TOMAS POSPISIL assisted on the goal
--- Goaltender DAN TURPLE posted 18 saves on 23 shots
Fri., Oct. 3
Milwaukee 4, (at) Chicago 3
--- The Wolves opened up a two-goal lead 4:35 into the game, but the Milwaukee Admirals rallied to tie things up in the third period and scored with 12 seconds left to steal a 4-3 victory at the Hoffman Estates Community Center and Ice Arena.
--- Forwards TOMAS POSPISIL, MYLES STOESZ, and SPENCER MACHACEK lit the lamp for Chicago
--- Netminders ROBERT GHERSON (nine saves) and GERALD COLEMAN (seven saves) shared duty between the pipes in COLEMAN's loss
THIS WEEK:
Sat., Oct. 11
at Houston Aeros
Toyota Center
7:30 p.m.
Check out the Chicago Wolves Statistics
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from October 6, 2008
- IceHogs roster taking shape - Rockford IceHogs
- Dan LaCosta Assigned to Syracuse - Syracuse Crunch
- Kings, Monarchs Announce Transactions - Manchester Monarchs
- Pirates Players Tee Off for Charity - Portland Pirates
- Rampage Weekly - San Antonio Rampage
- Griffins to Host Inaugural "Pups and Pucks" Dog Walk-a-Thon - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Griffinshockey.com Relaunches for 2008-09 Season - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Budweiser Flames Forum To Air At Bleacher Bums - Abbotsford Heat
- Flames Cut Six From Training Camp Roster - Abbotsford Heat
- Wolves Weekly Notes - Chicago Wolves
- Hog Talk Premieres Tonight At Cousin's Bar And Grill - Rockford IceHogs
- B-Sens Individual Game Tickets On Sale - Binghamton Senators
- Lightning Assign Defenseman Vladimir Mihalik to Admirals - Norfolk Admirals
- Lightning Assign Goaltender Karri Ramo to Admirals - Norfolk Admirals
- Lightning Acquire D Lukas Krajicek, LW Juraj Simek - Norfolk Admirals
- Monarchs Sign Kidd - Manchester Monarchs
- Admirals Trim Camp Roster - Milwaukee Admirals
- Total of 19 Players Reassigned, Loaned or Released - Connecticut Whale
- Wiikman heads to Hartford - Connecticut Whale
- Sound Tigers Individual Tickets On Sale Tuesday - Bridgeport Islanders
- Bears Raise Curtain On Regular Season With Four-Game Road Trip To Pens, Norfolk And Philadelphia - Hershey Bears
- Penguins partner with My Network TV and The CW - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Amerks reassign Micflikier to Florida Everblades - Rochester Americans
- Atlanta Assigns Three Members Of Calder Cup Champion Team To Wolves - Chicago Wolves
- Canucks acquire Ouellet, O'Brien from Tampa Bay in exchange for Krajicek and Simek - Manitoba Moose
- Worcester Sharks Reduce Training Camp Roster By Six - Worcester Sharks
- All-Star Center Joins Providence - Providence Bruins
- Amerks To Re-Launch Website On Tuesday, October 7th - Rochester Americans
- Falcons Assign Six Players To Stockton - Springfield Falcons
- Admirals Reduce Roster to 25 Players - Norfolk Admirals
- Albany Falls To Portland In Preseason Finale - Albany River Rats
- Blues Assign Players to Rivermen - Peoria Rivermen
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
