Recently the Chicago Wolves have been conducting a new documentary-type series called Chicago Wolves Unmasked.  In their most recent upload on YouTube, General Wendell Young and Assistant Coach Nolan Baumgartner talk about Pinnizotto and Lack recovering from injury.  They discuss how injuries can disrupt how a team plays more than anything.

“You can’t control it and you have to beckon to that. At the NHL you aren’t worried about call ups, you’re worried about injuries.”-Young

The video goes on to outline how difficult and frustrating it can be for an injured player to go from playing and getting their game back to having to sit on the other side of the glass and watch from the stands and watch your team win and lose. The key word being tossed around was frustration, especially when the topic of Eddie Lack came up. Lack has been injured since late November and should be back on the ice from his groin injury, according to all of the tests the organization has run.  Unfortunately, the frustration begins to set in as Lack still feels immense pain in his groin area and isn’t comfortable getting between the pipes. The timetable for his return, still undetermined.

Andrew Gordon (Photo Credit: JLR Puck)

With the end of the lockout the AHL is going to experience a lot of changes with their rosters.  The Chicago Wolves and Oklahoma City Barons had numerous gaps on their benches as players fled the city to report to their respective NHL homes, but that didn’t stop the Wolves from sailing to a 6-3 victory in arguably their best game of the new year.

Despite missing key players the Wolves were able to step up their game and come out victorious with Andrew Gordon and Derek Joslin picking up the slack from the players missing.  Both men recorded two goals for the Wolves along with tallies from Brad Hunt and Brett Sterling, Sterling getting his 399,400 and 401st AHL career point.

The Wolves started out really rough as they were scored on within the opening five minutes to play, but were able to turn the ship around and push themselves to a 6-3 victory. The win comes after a shutout loss to the Griffins Saturday night after giving up the lead late in the third period.

The Wolves are scheduled to play again on Friday, January 11 against the Abbotsford Heat at 7pm.

Ice Hogs against the Chicago Wolves (Photo Credit: the_mel/Flickr)

As the majority of you have ll heard/read/seen the NHL lockout is ‘tentatively’ over.  The framework for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is in place and we can expect to have a 48-50 game season commencing in the next couple of weeks.  With the end of the lock out comes the changing of a lot of differen rosters. For instance, the Chicago Wolves.

For today’s game the Wolves will be without Longpre and Friesen because of injury, but also Kassian, Schroeder, Tanev and Ebbett.  Kevin Connauton is also expected to report to Vancouver, but will do so after today’s game against the Oklahoma City Barons. The Wolves aren’t the only team playing without big names, as the Barons are also going without Hall, Eberle and Schultz.

A number of transactions are going to be occurring over the next few days, with some already taking place today as the Wolves signed right wing Alexandre Grenier and recalled Kenton Miller. Each are in their professional season debuts.

This is the first meeting for the Wolves and Barons this season and should prove to be interesting as both teams adjust to the significant roster changes made today.  Without their leading scorers today’s match will provide a somewhat level playing field (not that it wasn’t before) with a skill set a little less dramatic as we have been seeing from the Barons.

Face off is at 4pm, let’s hope despite the changes the Wolves can finally pull off a victory!

#GoWolves

Darren Haydar was on fire as he beat the Heat with a game-winning goal early on in the third period. (Photo Credit: the_mel/Flickr)

Sunday the Chicago Wolves took on the Abbotsford Heat in a re-match after falling to them 3-2 Saturday evening.  Despite being down early on in the first period, the Wolves bit their way back and were able to hold on to their lead established early on in the final frame for a 3-2 victory.

The Wolves came out of the locker room already on the attack, a 2-on-1 opportunity forming right off of the faceoff that led to a delay of game penalty on the Heat.  In the opening seconds the Wolves were put on the powerplay, but it was the Heat that seemed to still be flaming from the night before as they turned the penalty kill into a goal scoring opportunity, putting the puck past Connatta on their first shot on goal.  While the Wolves seemed to lose a little bit of their momentum, they didn’t give up, despite the Heat scoring on their next shot on goal as well with Byron catching Joe on his kness and beating him on the open side of the net for a 2-0 advantage. Thankfully, Andrew Ebbett was able to redeem the Wolves and beat Barry Brust with a quick release to cut the Heat’s lead to 1.

Coming out for the second period the Wolves carried the same grit and determination they did in the first, the Andrew Ebbett-Darren Haydar-Brett Sterling line being electrifying, showing their presence everywhere on the ice.  The Wolves would catch a break from Jordan Schroeder mid-way through the second frame as he went high corner on Brust to tie the game.  Their confidence had been restored and the Wolves were ready to forget about the two goals the Heat had.  Schroeder’s goal was the lone mark of the second period, but the Wolves held a 24-11 edge in shots heading into the final frame.

Third period hockey is always the most exciting, the players battling it out to the final sound of the buzzer to get the additional 2 points in standings.  The Wolves came out bearing teeth showing they weren’t going to back down as captain Darren Haydar lit the lamp to give the Wolves a 3-2 lead.  A lead that would carry them through the period after the buzzer.

Unfortunately, with victory sometimes comes a price to pay as the Wolves are now down two players with Friesen injuring his hand and Ethan Longpre having a shoulder injury.  The Wolves next game is Thursday at the Milwaukee Admirals where they will ring in the new year.

Game Notes…

• Goaltending: Joe Cannata starred in his second AHL game ever tonight, his first of the season for Chicago and despite a rough start he improved his record to 1-0-0.  Cannata saved 14 of the 16 shots he faced.  On the other side of the ice Barry Brust was able to turn away 33 of the 36 shots he faced and fell to 8-4-1.
• Shots on Goal: Chicago 11-13-12 (36) Abbotsford 2-9-5 (16)
• Power Play Opportunities” Chicago 2/7  Abbotsford 1/6
• Three Stars of the Game:

1. Darren Haydar – 1 goal, 1 assist (Chicago)
2. Andrew Ebbett – 1 goal, 1 assist (Chicago)
3. Jordan Schroeder – 1 goal (Chicago)

Tonight the Wolves are ready to ‘heat’ up the ice with a victory after they lost 3-2 to the IceHogs Thursday evening. While Zack Kassian was able to lend a couple helpers and Sterling’s powerplay goal led him to the top of the pack, they were unable to light the lamp just one more time.

Tonight marks the first meeting between the two teams since the 19th of December when the Wolves clinched a 1-0 victory with none other than Matt Climie between the pipes.  He is expected to once again get the nod in net as he has appeared in ten consecutive games for the Wolves.

The main man the Wolves should be concerned about from the Heat is goaltender Barry Brust who is ranked #1 in the American Hockey League.  Brust currently holds an 8-3-1 record and has a .951 save percentage and 1.26 goals against average.

While Ben Street holds a team high 20 points for the Heat, their key goal scorer remains Roman Horak who has 13 goals in 29 games.  The Wolves leading scorer is Brett Sterling with 9 in 23 games played.

Tonight’s game is being aired on SportsNet for all of Canada to see, for those of us residing in the US, we can see the game on AHL Live for a small fee (of course) or listen to it for free on the same site.

Faceoff is at 5pm CT/8pm ET.  #WindaTurd

10/14/12: Matt Climie during warm-ups against the IceHogs (photo credit: the_mel/Flickr)

Last night the Chicago Wolves headed to Rockford to take on the IceHogs in hopes of finding themselves back in the win column after losing 2-1 to the Grand Rapid Griffins in overtime on the 22nd.  Despite Matt Climie being able to stop 36 shots, he let three slide by giving the Hogs a 3-2 win.

Much like the last meeting between the Wolves and Hogs Andrew Ebbett opened up the scoring just 3:22 into the period with a backhanded pass from Zack Kassian. As easily as the Wolves scored, the Hogs pulled off the same fashion and came back with Rob Flick slipping one past Climie.  The Hogs went on to dominate the first period and posted 21 shots against Climie, 3 short of their current season-high record of 24 shots in a single period.

Beginning the second period the Wolves still had 1:46 on the penalty kill after Desbiens found himself in the box for a holding penalty.  They came out ready to play and killed off the penalty only to find themselves right back in the box as Brett Sterling served two minutes for a delay of game. This time the Hogs took advantage and Andrew Shaw got his goal he had looked for in the first period on penalty shot that Climie easily pushed away.  Shaw’s goal gave the Hogs their first lead of the night just four minutes into the second frame.  At the 15:54 mark Zack Kassian would find the open man again and send the puck to Brett Sterling to tie the game once more, this time at two goals a piece. Yet, once again the Hogs answered right back with Martin St. Pierre throwing a long shot at Climie and re-directing his own rebound past Climie for a 3-2 advantage to end the second frame.

Third period play was fairly matched as each team was hungry for the two points in the standings.  The Wolves dominated the opening minutes of the frame and were able to keep the IceHogs from scoring through the final twenty minutes, unfortunately unable to score themselves. Despite having 25 shots on goal, they only managed to post the two and lost their second straight consecutive game 3-2.  They are now four points behind the Hogs in the Division and sit in 3rd place.

The Wolves next game is December 29 against the Abbottsford Heat at 7:00pm CT.

Game Notes…

• Goaltending: Matt Climie made 36 saves on 39 shots he faced.  He fell to 6-9-0 on the season while Carter Hutton improved to 12-11-1 with 23 saves out of 25 shots.
• Shots on Goal: Chicago 10-9-6 (25) Rockford 21-10-8(39)
• Power Play Opportunities: Chicago 2/4 Rockford 1/3
• Three Stars of the Game:
  1. Martin St. Pierre – game-winning goal (Rockford)
  2. Nick Leddy – 2 assists (Rockford)
  3. Andrew Ebbett – 1 goal, 1 assist (Chicago)

(Photo: Loxy!!/flickr)

Jannik Hansen has joined the ranks of many NHLers who have inked deals to play in Europe on account of the NHL lockout. Hansen, who had earlier alluded to the possibility of playing “back home” in Denmark in case of a lockout, signed on to play for the Tappara Tampere of the Finnish Elite league, Tuesday.

The Herlev, Denmark native, voiced frustration as the reason for why he opted to play in Europe: “I didn’t want to sit at home anymore. I had enough of waiting for something to happen. I wanted to take it in my own hands and get going” (x).

He continued, “[w]e’re hockey players. We don’t want to be sitting at home or fooling around by ourselves. We want to be playing meaningful games” (x). The decision was an easy one for him, he explains, hockey players “want to play. We don’t want to be sitting, waiting around for the owners to come forth and talk with us. [So,] [i]t was a fairly simple decision” (x).

Hansen ultimately felt that it was time for him to get back to playing competitive hockey and assure that his game was at its best for when the Danish national team attempts to qualify for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. He explains, “we have Olympic qualifications for Denmark in February and if somehow [the NHL] couldn’t figure out the lockout [by then], I wanted to make sure I was playing and in good shape” (x).

In his debut with the Tappara Tampere on Thursday, the 26 year old Dane, notched 3 points (1 goal and 2 assists) and helped his team to a 5-1 victory over the Kalpa Kuopio. Hansen told reporters that his debut “went well” and that he was happy to record a win with his new team (x).

Seems like Hansen has picked up right where he left off last season, having tallied a career high 39 points (16 goals and 23 assists) with the Canucks. The offensive contribution is more than welcomed by the Tappara Tampere, who are pleased to have a President’s trophy winner and Western conference champion join their team (x).

(Photo: Loxy!!/flickr)

Many Canucks fans were less than ecstatic after hearing about the acquisition of Zack Kassian at last season’s trade deadline, particularly due to what it cost to bring him to Vancouver: Cody Hodgson. Not surprising, considering that prior to the trade deadline, there were talks of Hodgson being a potential candidate for the NHL’s Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year. Kassian’s less than stellar start with the Canucks (1 goal and 2 assists in 17 games played), did not help matters either. More recently though, after dedicating himself to an intense off-season training program and following it up with extra allotted development time (as a result of the NHL lockout), Zack Kassian is showing that Mike Gillis’ investment in the 6’3, 214 pound, youngster will eventually pay for itself.

In 7 games played this season with the Canucks’ AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, Kassian stands as the team’s current leading scorer, having recorded 5 points (4 goals and 1 assist) thus far, illustrating that he has more to offer than just size and strength. This past weekend, he pleasantly surprised many Canucks fans present for a 2 game match-up seeing the Chicago Wolves face off against the Abbotsford Heat. Kassian notched a goal in each game and did not hesitate to showcase his multidimensional game-play, by dropping the gloves and coming out victorious. His newly found offensive skill is especially hard to overlook, with him having scored the first goal in four of the Wolves last five games (x).

The Windsor, Ontario native credits his recent success to the summer training program designed for him by the Canucks, which had him traveling to receive specialized training in Vancouver, Portland, and Winnipeg. Kassian’s training program consisted of training for 7 days in Vancouver with the Sedin twins, 10 days in Portland’s Nike High Performance Centre, and 3 weeks in Winnipeg with skills coach, Glenn Carnegie (x). His time with the twins proved to be extremely influential, Kassian explains, “[t]hose guys are great role models…They are always doing extra. When you see players like that with their caliber of skill working that hard it is kind of an eye-opener as a rookie to work even harder” (x).

Canucks General Manager, Mike Gillis is thrilled by how Kassian’s development has progressed: “You can see that the pace of his play is much higher…When he takes off now with the puck he is pulling away from people…He worked really hard and is getting results because of it” (x). Gillis went on to say that he and assistant General Manager, Lorne Henning believe that the young gun may be a stride or two ahead of where he was last season, which is promising news for Canucks fans.

Kassian’s development is a result of his positive attitude and strong mindset, which will be an invaluable asset for his future in the NHL. Chicago Wolves coach, Scott Arniel discloses that “[Kass is] eager to learn and recognizes the opportunity that’s been put in front of him” (x), something that can be hard to find in young players.

The big right-winger has noticed the difference in his game, proclaiming, “I feel quicker…I feel like I got a step faster” after having lost a few pounds and put on lean muscle (x). He adds that with playing more minutes, he is starting to feel confident with the puck, and is making more smart plays every game; the numbers speak for themselves. Kassian’s determination and willingness to learn should assure his future success with the Canucks, especially when he’s declared, “[m]y goal is to make my teammates and my coaches happy. I’m prepared to do whatever it takes” (x).

Canucks fans should find comfort in knowing he has shown signs of becoming something the team has been lacking, and desperately needing, since the days of Todd Bertuzzi, a strong, dominate power forward. There is no telling how far perseverance can take a player like Kassian, but Mike Gillis seems confident that “[i]f he continues doing what he’s doing I don’t see why [Zack] wouldn’t get a great opportunity with our team to show what he can do” (x).

Today on Canucks in Wonderland…

I wonder what the problem is.

And thus the NHL  has cancelled all games for November.

Games Canucks fans won’t get to see this month includes a game against the dreaded Chicago Blackhawks and a game that would see us in Buffalo against former ‘Nucks Christian Ehrhoff, Cody Hodgson and Alex Sulzer.

Fortunately, there are ways to cope to said lockout. The WHL and the AHL is still going on (see: the Vancouver Giants and the Abbotsford Heat) and all the support would be greatly appreciated.

Other ways to get your hockey fix is to check out Wyatt Arndt (@theStanchion)’s Fake Hockey Season (@FakeCanucksLive). News goes that the Canucks are doing very well in said Fake Season.

‘Hear me Roar’ – House Lannister

Welcome to Abbotsford! (Photo: canucks.com/Naki Edits)

Last weekend, on Canucks in Wonderland; the Chicago Wolves made an appearance in Abbotsford, for 2 of the 4 games that they will play here in BC during the AHL season.

The bad news is, the Wolves lost one of the 2 games last weekend.

The good news is, there is a Behind the Lens.

• Behind the Lens: A collection of Off Ice Pictures of the Canucks (or in this case, the Chicago Wolves). Usually taken during road trips by photographer Jeff Vinnick (unless stated otherwise). Captions by journalist Derek Jory (unless stated otherwise).

Last weekend’s Behind the Lens collection can be found in the multimedia section of Canucks dot com. Or here.

…

I miss hockey.