CHICAGO, Ill – The Chicago Wolves have finally gotten their act together and are making a run to the top of the AHL’s Western Division. Chicago currently sits in the sixth spot, but only 11 points separate the division leaders from the cellar-dwellers. The Wolves have won seven out of their last 10 and swept this weekend’s games.
Saturday, the Wolves dominated the Peoria Rivermen, 3-1, outshooting the opposition, 42-17.
Sunday’s game evolved in a similar fashion, with one big difference. The Toronto Marlies came out quickly with a physical presence that took the Wolves off-guard.
The Marlies tallied just 38 seconds into the game as winger Stefano Gilati took a rebound in on Wolves netminder Drew MacIntyre for his second goal of the season. MacIntyre was making his second consecutive start in a row.
“They are a very physical hockey team and they pounded us early and it took us awhile to get our wheels,” said Wolves head coach Don Lever. “Once we got our legs under us we started taking it to them.”
In the second stanza, Chicago left wing Andrew Kozek beat the pile of players in front of Joey MacDonald to tie the game at a goal apiece. It marked the 10th straight game in which the Wolves have scored at least once in the second period.
Ex-Wolves forward Ben Simon put Toronto ahead, by backhanding the puck past MacIntyre. But the Wolves came back, as defenseman Nathan Oystrick skated in and fired a rebound into the net at 7:15 of the third period with a man advantage.
Midway into overtime, defenseman Arturs Kulda fired a long pass to center Johnny Pohl at the blue line. Pohl whipped a centering pass to Joey Crabb, who skated the puck and fired the game-winner past MacDonald.
The game provided a reunion of sorts for ex-Wolves players like Simon. Marlies head coach Dallas Eakins and assistant Gord Dineen both spent time in Chicago wearing the wolf head. Kyle Calder played in Chicago for many years as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Going into the halfway mark of the season, the Wolves are starting to get the pieces together for a run. The Texas Stars have cooled off from their hot start, with the Milwaukee Admirals now occupying the top spot. Every team in the division seems capable of overtaking them at any time. With the amount of intradivisional games ahead, it’s possible to have a different leader almost every week.
When asked on the success of the team lately, Lever replied, “We have been pretty crisp now for probably three and a half weeks. We had one stinker of a game in Lake Erie and we weren’t very sharp in Hamilton, but other than that our competitive level has risen. We are playing with urgency now which we weren’t before. We had guys that were struggling scoring goals, and they are starting to score goals now and you feel better about yourself now and contributing.”
Asked about how comfortable are you with where the team is at, “I am not comfortable because of where we are. We are still fighting to get ourselves in real solid position, but I think we are starting to feel good about ourselves. Our goaltending has been much, much better. Our defense has been very good and now we are starting to see some injuries. We lost [Paul] Postma (lower body) tonight and [Steve] McCarthy’s been out. I have been telling all these defensemen all year that they are going to get a chance, so some other guys are going to get a chance now.”
Veteran defenseman Chris Chelios, who is a few weeks away from his 48th birthday, re-upped with the Wolves for another 25-game Professional Tryout Contract.
Defenseman Brian Sipotz signed a standard players’ contract with the Wolves and has returned from the ECHL’s Gwinnett Gladiators after a conditioning stint.
Left winger Brett Sterling has been selected to the PlanetUSA All-Star Team for the 2010 AHL All-Star Classic that will be held in Portland, Maine on Jan. 18 and 19. Sterling is currently one goal behind at 18 for the league lead.
Goaltender Peter Mannino was named AHL Player of the Week for the period ending January 3, 2010. Mannino faced 104 shots stopping 100 in winning all three games he played.
Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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