Even though the Chicago Blackhawks have completely emerged
from the “Dark Ages” under Bill Wirtz, many do not know that for 20 years now
Chicago has had a second major league hockey team. The Chicago Wolves (who, despite their name,
play in Rosemont) are a team in the American Hockey League, originally from the
International Hockey League, who started play in 1994.
Ok, what are the
American and International Hockey Leagues?
Well, the Wolves’ original league, the International Hockey
League (IHL) was founded in 1945 as a minor hockey league, eventually getting
on par with the American Hockey League (AHL) (more on that league later). By the mid-1990s, the league had started
placing teams (like the Wolves, as well as teams in Detroit, Denver, LA and San
Francisco) in NHL markets. The NHL didn’t
like that. Not one bit. So, most, if not all, NHL teams that had
affiliations with IHL teams (thereby giving the IHL teams nice subsidized
players that they didn’t have to pay for) moved their affiliations to the AHL,
which knew its place.
Due to that, as well as the rapid expansion itself, the IHL
eventually collapsed in 2001. Six teams
were absorbed into the AHL. Three of
those teams (the Wolves, the Milwaukee Admirals, and the Grand Rapids Griffins)
are still in their original place, and are coincidentally divisional
rivals. The other three teams all moved
for one reason or another (the Manitoba Moose had to move once the Winnipeg Jets
moved into the building, the Houston Aeros lost their lease, and the Utah
Grizzlies were sold).
Now, the AHL has been the primary minor league for the NHL
since roughly its inception. As such, it’s
usually a showcase for young talented hockey players, and keeps up a good level
of competition itself. Some people have
said it’s about the second best hockey league in the world, or at least close
to the KHL in terms of quality. But what
needs to be said and taken away here is that all the AHL teams are the top
affiliates of NHL teams. Basically it’s
the hockey equivalent to AAA teams in baseball.
How common is it for
an AHL team to be in the same market as an NHL one?
Pretty uncommon.
Depending on your definition of “market”, there’s as few as two (Chicago
and Toronto, who’s AHL team plays in a different rink in the city of Toronto) to
as many as a dozen (the northeast is densely packed with AHL teams, and the
markets could conceivably be considered part of the New York or Boston “markets”. But as far as teams billed from the same town
as an NHL team, just Chicago and Toronto.
Ok, so the Wolves are
the Blackhawks top farm team? So we’ll see future Hawks stars like Teuvo Teravainen
for the Wolves?
Well, no. Due to a
long and complicated history between the two franchises, as well as some timing
issues with affiliation contract lengths, the Blackhawks affiliate isn’t the
Wolves. The Blackhawks players play for
the AHL team in Rockford, the IceHogs, who didn’t make the playoffs this year
(possibly because the Hawks took their goalie as a backup to Crawford).
The Wolves are, as of this year, the St. Louis Blues
affiliate, after two awkward seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. When the Wolves came into the AHL, they were
the Atlanta Thrashers affiliate, but True North (the owners of the then
Manitoba Moose) bought the Thrashers, moved the Moose to St. Johns, and made
them the Jets affiliate, which left the Wolves and Canucks without an
affiliation, leading to the joining of those two.
Well, you said in
your lede that the “playoff hockey never left”, so what have the Wolves done?
An excellent question, person who writes these
questions. In each of their 7 seasons in
the IHL before it folded, the Wolves made the playoffs, winning 2 of a possible
5 division titles, 3 of 7 conference titles, and 2 Turner Cups (the IHL’s
playoff championship trophy).
Since coming into the AHL in 2001, in 13 seasons, the Wolves
have made the playoffs 9 times, winning 5 division titles (including this
year), and 3 conference titles. And oh
yeah, they’ve got two Calder Cup victories to go with the Turner Cups.
I’ll just lay this out, in 19 completed seasons, the Wolves
have won 4 league championships, and have never been below .500 to end a
season.
That’s pretty darn good.
Enough of a history
lesson, can I get some vital details about when/where the Wolves play??
Indeed you can, mystery person that totally isn’t me. The Wolves home games are played at the
Allstate Arena in Rosemont, on Mannheim Road, just off Interstate 90. But if you’re coming from the city, you can
take the Blue Line to the Rosemont stop, and at every Wolves game, there’s a
PACE bus to and from the arena, so you don’t even have to have a car (also
there’s a Culver’s across the street, which is always yummy).
As for when the games are, most AHL games take place on
weekends, and it’s not uncommon (especially in the West, where teams are far
more spread out) to see two teams play each other back to back in the same
building. Of course, if you can’t get
out to Rosemont, and you live in the Chicago area, all the games are televised
on the U Too, which is an over the air station, so even if you’ve cut the cord,
you can watch the Wolves.
So what’s the
situation now for the Wolves?
Well, the Wolves made the playoffs, winning the Midwest
division on the last day (though they were mathematically clinched for a spot),
arguably on the back of the AHL’s best goalie Jake Allen (who may not return to
Chicago next year, with both of St. Louis’ goalies having their contracts
expire). The Wolves then dispatched the
Rochester (NY) Americans 3 games to 1 in the first round (the first round of
AHL playoff series is a best of 5).
Now they’re playing the aforementioned Toronto Marlies, the
Leafs affiliate team. The series has not
gone particularly well, meaning the Wolves lost games 1 and 2 at home by scores
of 5-2 and 4-2, respectively. The series
now heads to Toronto, for games 3-5 (to minimize travel costs, AHL playoff
series have as little as possible, in this case a 2-3-2 series). If Chicago can win 2 games north of the border,
games 6 and 7 will be at home on Monday and Wednesday, May 19 and 21 (which
completely blows apart the “schedule for weekends” thing)
So if they do make
it, how expensive is it to go to a game, anyway?
Not very, playoff tickets start at just $25 for a pretty
large swath of the stadium, and heck, my dad, his girlfriend and I went to game
2 for under $150 for the three of us.
That’s ludicrously cheap, about as much as one seat for a Blackhawks
playoff game.
So yeah, tickets are not very expensive, and they’re cheaper
during the regular season.
But Sean, I want
something exciting with my hockey, like fireworks, or hell, just plain fire
would work for me.
Hooboy, have I got something to show you, mysterious person
that isn’t me feeding myself softball questions so I can show this.
There you go buddy, fireworks AND fire.
And a mascot that shoots fireworks out of his hands.
So what are you guys waiting for? I'm giving you fireworks, hockey, and fire, what more could you ask for?
