CHICAGO, Ill. – A new era began for the Chicago Wolves Friday night, as they faced one of the league’s best in the Manitoba Moose. The week began as the team relieved head coach Don Granato and assistant Jason Christie of their duties. The next day, Chicago announced that NHL veteran defenseman and hometown favorite Chris Chelios would join the blueline. And then to finish off the weeks trifecta, the Wolves named Don Lever the team’s new head coach with Ron Wilson as his assistant.
Friday’s game, which was only Lever’s third day on the job, was stellar defensively. Chelios was named a starter and went to work immediately. He was the first player announced out of the tunnel and was greeted to a standing ovation from the hometown Allstate Arena crowd.
“That’s great. I’ve been nervous, couldn’t sleep today,” Chelios said later. “(I was) really excited about coming back. I know a lot of my friends are here, they didn’t bother me for tickets, fortunately. I have been looking forward to it.”
In one series, his back-check upended a Manitoba player with the puck, which squirted to a teammate who he checked into boards, causing a turnover.
In the game, Chicago played well, outshooting the Moose, 11-5, but couldn’t get the puck to the back of the net. Just when the Wolves were gaining momentum in the game, the team was called for three penalties in the second that stopped the flow to the game. One good thing is that they kept the high scoring visitors to no goals in regulation. However, the No. 1 star of the game, Manitoba goalie Cory Schneider, also kept the Wolves at bay for a full 60 minutes.
Overtime came and went, forcing a shootout. In the shootout, Chicago’s Manny Legace let in one more goal in the five rounds than his counterpart and suffered the loss, even though he played well and stopped 30 shots.
“I was happy they way they competed, I think we were a little nervous and played a real solid first period,” said Lever. “After that their size… they grinded us pretty good. We just didn’t move the puck quick enough or well enough. We got a lot of work to do, but at least they competed hard and Manny was great in net and saw the puck well all game.”
“I felt pretty good, as good as I can expect. I don’t know how physical I can be every game being my age,” the 47-year old Chelios remarked. “But I am going to try and do the best I can and when I get an opportunity I am going to hit. It was a good team effort; we just came up a little short. We had some chances but didn’t finish.”
The Wolves come right back on Saturday night to face a new opponent as the Abbotsford Heat come to town. Lever hopes to see a huge improvement on the scoring column as Brett Sterling returns to the lineup after facing a suspension the last four games.
Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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