| Chicago Wolves | |
|---|---|
 | |
| City | Rosemont, Illinois |
| League | American Hockey League |
| Conference | Western |
| Division | Central |
| Founded | 1994 (IHL) |
| Home arena | Allstate Arena |
| Colors | Burgundy, gold, black, white |
| Owner(s) | Don Levin |
| General manager | Darren Yorke |
| Head coach | Cam Abbott |
| Captain | Josiah Slavin |
| Media | My50 The U AHL.TV (Internet) |
| Affiliates | Carolina Hurricanes (NHL) Greensboro Gargoyles (ECHL) |
| Franchise history | |
| 1994–present | Chicago Wolves |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 1 IHL (1999–2000) 1 AHL (2021–22) |
| Division titles | 4 IHL (1997–98,1998–99,1999–00,2000–01) 10 AHL (2004–05,2007–08,2009–10,2011–12,2013–14,2016–17,2017–18,2018–19,2020–21,2021–22) |
| Conference titles | 3 IHL (1997–98, 1999–00,2000–01) 5 AHL (2001–02,2004–05,2007–08,2018–19,2021–22) |
| Turner Cups | 2 (1997–98,1999–2000) |
| Calder Cups | 3 (2001–02,2007–08,2021–22) |
| Current uniform | |
 | |
 Current season | |
TheChicago Wolves are a professionalice hockey team based inRosemont, Illinois. They are theAmerican Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of theCarolina Hurricanes of theNational Hockey League (NHL). The Wolves play home games at theAllstate Arena.
Originally a member of theInternational Hockey League, the Wolves joined the AHL after the IHL folded in 2001.
The Wolves won theTurner Cup twice (1998, 2000) in the IHL and theCalder Cup three times (2002, 2008, and 2022). The Wolves qualified for all but five postseasons (2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13, and 2015–16 seasons), appearing in eight league championship finals (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2019 and 2022) in their 22-year history.
The team's most notable player was forwardSteve Maltais, who until his retirement after the2004–05 season had played every season of the franchise and holds most of its scoring records. Other notable players include goaltenderWendell Young, ex-Pittsburgh starRob Brown and long timeChicago Blackhawks starsTroy Murray,Chris Chelios andAl Secord. The Wolves had their best season start in their 14-year history, during the2007–08 season, winning 13 of the first 14 games, with an overtime loss. The Wolves finished the season with 111 points, and first in the Western Conference.
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The Wolves were the AHL affiliate of theAtlanta Thrashers from 2001 to 2011. The Thrashers relocated toWinnipeg in June 2011 and added theSt. John's IceCaps (formerly theManitoba Moose) as their new AHL affiliate, leaving the Wolves and the NHL'sVancouver Canucks to find new affiliates. On June 27, 2011, the Wolves and Canucks agreed to a two–year affiliation agreement.[1]
On April 23, 2013, the Wolves andSt. Louis Blues reached a three-year affiliation agreement. The deal was struck after the Canucks and Wolves decided not to renew their existing affiliation agreement and purchased thePeoria Rivermen franchise from the Blues creating theUtica Comets.[2] In November 2016, it was first reported the Blues would not renew their affiliation with the Wolves and were planning to move their affiliation to Kansas City for 2017.[3] However, this was unconfirmed and then denied by the announced potential owner in Kansas City,Lamar Hunt Jr., in a press release from hisECHL team in the area, theMissouri Mavericks,[4] and further denied by AHL commissioner, David Andrews, after the January 2017 Board of Governors meeting.[5]
After the 2016–17 season, the Wolves became the first affiliate of the NHL's expansion team, theVegas Golden Knights.[6] The Blues did not re-sign with the Wolves to be their primary NHL affiliate for the2017–18 season. However, Blues' general managerDoug Armstrong confirmed they would still send prospects to the Wolves for that season.[7]
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During the first season of their affiliation with Vegas, the Wolves set a pair of franchise records in earning points in 14 straight games from December 9 to January 6[8] and 13 consecutive home wins from December 6 to February 15.[9] In the2018–19 season, the Wolves made the Calder Cup Finals, in which they lost to theCharlotte Checkers in five games.[10] During the2019–20 season, the Golden Knights stated it was looking to own and operate its own AHL team in the Las Vegas region in 2020–21, but it would not be the Wolves.[11] The Golden Knights agreed to purchase theSan Antonio Rampage franchise and move it to the Las Vegas area as theHenderson Silver Knights.[12] On September 10, 2020, the Wolves announced an affiliation agreement with theCarolina Hurricanes.[13] In addition, the Wolves added a temporary secondary NHL affiliate in theNashville Predators for the2020–21 season as the Predators' affiliate, theMilwaukee Admirals, opted out of theCOVID-19 pandemic-shortened season.[14] For the 2020–21 season, the teams' home games were at their training facility at the Triphahn Center inHoffman Estates due to arena restrictions for fans during the pandemic.[15]
During the2023–24 season, the Wolves played as independent AHL team, becoming the first independent AHL team since the1994–95 season.[16] On May 2, 2024, the team renewed its affiliation with theCarolina Hurricanes for a three-year term beginning with the 2024–25 season.[17]
On May 6, 2025, theGreensboro Gargoyles, anECHL expansion team inGreensboro, North Carolina, beginning play in October 2025, announced their affiliation with theCarolina Hurricanes, which in turn aligned them with the Wolves, as the AA farm team.[18] Greensboro was the original home of theCarolina Hurricanes for two years after their move fromHartford, Connecticut, before moving toRaleigh, North Carolina, while waiting for their arena to be constructed.
The Wolves once were the only AHL team with a full television package. As theChicago Blackhawks' late ownerBill Wirtz had refused to allow Blackhawks home games to be televised locally, the Wolves were viewed and embraced as an alternative; the Wolves took advantage of this, going so far as to promote themselves with the slogan "We Play Hockey The Old-Fashioned Way: We ActuallyWin". AfterJudd Sirott served as the team's play-by-play announcer for its first 12 seasons, starting in the2006–07 season broadcast announcers were long-time Blackhawks commentatorsPat Foley andBill Gardner; Foley ultimately returned to the Blackhawks for the2008–09 season after Bill Wirtz died and his son Rocky took over the team, reversing many of his father's policies, one of which allowed the Blackhawks' games to be aired locally on TV.[19] Since 2008, Jason Shaver has handled the play-by-play duties for the Wolves, along with Gardner.
Today, select regular-season home games are broadcast onWPWR-TV (My50), andWMEU-CD (The U), and all games are streamed on AHLTV.
This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Wolves. For the full season-by-season history, seeList of Chicago Wolves seasons
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Games | Won | Lost | OTL | SOL | Points | PCT | Goals for | Goals against | Standing | Year | Div 1st Rd | Div Semi | Div Finals | Conf. Finals | Finals |
| 2020–21 | 33 | 21 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 45 | .682 | 132 | 94 | 1st, Central | 2021 | No playoffs were held | ||||
| 2021–22 | 76 | 50 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 110 | .724 | 261 | 194 | 1st, Central | 2022 | — | W, 3–0,RFD | W, 3–1,MIL | W, 4–2,STO | W, 4–1,SPR |
| 2022–23 | 72 | 35 | 29 | 5 | 3 | 78 | .542 | 227 | 244 | 6th, Central | 2023 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2023–24 | 72 | 23 | 35 | 7 | 7 | 60 | .417 | 192 | 253 | 7th, Central | 2024 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2024–25 | 72 | 37 | 31 | 4 | 0 | 78 | .542 | 205 | 223 | 4th, Central | 2025 | L, 0–2,RFD | — | — | — | — |
Updated October 31, 2025.[20][21]
The following players have played both 100 games for the Wolves and 100 games in theNational Hockey League:
| No. | Player | Position | Career | No. retirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wendell Young | G | 1994–2001 | December 1, 2001[22] |
| 11 | Steve Maltais | LW | 1994–2005 | April 15, 2006[22] |
| Type | Number | Player | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goals | 60 | Steve Maltais | 1996–97[23] |
| Assists | 91 | Rob Brown | 1995–96[23] |
| Points | 143 | Rob Brown | 1995–96[23] |
| Penalty minutes | 390 | Kevin MacDonald | 1994–95[23] |
| Hat-tricks | 5 | Steve Maltais | 1996–97[23] |
| Power play goals | 27 | Steve Maltais | 1995–96 &1996–97[24] |
| Short-handed goals | 7 | Ben Simon | 2002–03[24] |
| Plus–minus | +47 | Arturs Kulda | 2009–10[24] |
| Wins | 38 | Kari Lehtonen | 2004–05[24] |
| Shutouts | 7 | Jake Allen | 2013–14[25] |
| Type | Number | Player |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 454 | Steve Maltais[23] |
| Assists | 497 | Steve Maltais[23] |
| Points | 951 | Steve Maltais[23] |
| Penalty minutes | 1061 | Steve Maltais[23] |
| Hat-tricks | 18 | Steve Maltais[23] |
| Power play goals | 195 | Steve Maltais[23] |
| Short-handed goals | 21 | Derek MacKenzie[24] |
| Game winning goals | 67 | Steve Maltais[23] |
| Games played | 839 | Steve Maltais[26] |
| Wins | 169 | Wendell Young[27] |
| Shutouts | 16 | Wendell Young[28] |
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