CHICAGO, Ill. – The Chicago Wolves today made it official and announced an affiliation agreement with the Vancouver Canucks. “We have to have an affiliate that has a good core of players that want their players to develop and also to want their players to develop in a winning atmosphere,” said Chicago Wolves general manager Wendell Young, “ we did our due diligence and we couldn’t find anybody better and very proud (we found) a team that has the same philosophies as us.”
Wolves color analyst Bill Gardner introduced from the Wolves, Young, owner and vice chairman Buddy Meyers, and Gene Ubriaco senior advisor and director of hockey operations. And for the Vancouver Canucks, NHL General Manager of the Year, Mike Gillis, Lorne Henning , vice president of player personnel and assistant general manager who has ties to Chicago hockey , and Laurence Gilman, vice president of hockey operations and assistant general manager.
“We found that communicating and the same philosophy worked extraordinarily well for us, when the Manitoba Moose got an NHL franchise we looked for the same relations and same philosophies, and very early settled on the wolves as the best and most competent partner for us,” stated Gillis.
As for the coaching situation, both Don Lever and Ron Wilson were not retained and the search has begun on both sides with the Wolves and Vancouver each working on lists as they will meet to come up with a suitable coach and staff. Why haven’t they started earlier, the Canucks were a little busy with the NHL Awards, NHL Entry Draft, and little thing called the Stanley Cup Finals.
So what about the fans? The Wolves are always about family; they might have lost Atlanta to Winnipeg where a majority of the players will now play in St. John’s but they got a better parent in Vancouver. Have we lost some identity with the teams of the past? The fans should be fine as the Wolves so far have under contract, Darren Haydar, Mark Matheson, and Kevin Doell who returns from a season in Finland. Young stated that they have already shared lists of NHL-caliber players with Vancouver that they would like to sign to be the part of the leaders of the team and the consensus was good that we may see them in Wolves uniforms. Also the fans will love the fact that the Canucks is a franchise that loves to see their players develop and not rush them up to the parent club as the Thrashers did. If will allow the fans to see the player grow into the potential that they can be.
We have seen what the Manitoba Moose has done with there players in recent years. The Wolves have always respected the Moose since both teams were carryovers from the old International Hockey League when six teams merged into the American Hockey League.
With the rivalry between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks that last few years leading to the playoffs gives a little more fire into the hockey battles between the two cities. Both general managers said that the rivalry had no impact on the two sides joining forces but it definitely will bring hockey to the forefront especially when the Wolves face the ‘Hawks affiliate in Rockford a number of times in divisional and possible playoff games this upcoming season. If the hockey was good up in the United Center, watch for the same to carry over to the Allstate Arena.
Contact the writer at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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